Movie Review: Funny Games

Throughout cinema history, there have been various cases of films that have been misleadingly named. Pity the poor audience members who went to see The World's Fastest Indian thinking it was the story of an express curry delivery service, or Silence of the Lambs for its sheep-shearing tips.

Hopefully there won't be any unlucky punters going to watch Funny Games this weekend expecting a whole lot of fun – unless kidnap, torture and murder is your idea of a good time.

This is Austrian director Michael Haneke's American remake of his 1997 German-language film, and once again it pits a nice middle-class family against a pair of sadistic youngsters who invade their home and start playing a series of sadistic games with them.

The original film caused something of a stir when it was released a decade ago, for both its harrowing brutality and the director's perceived contempt for audiences who lap up screen violence. This new version is pretty much identical shot-for-shot, the only concession to Hollywood being that Haneke has Naomi Watts spend a lot more time in her underwear than the original actress had to.

Those who have seen the first film may therefore find sitting through this version a bit redundant. That’s sort of the point though, as Haneke has made this film for American audiences who missed it first time round and need to hear his message. Apparently, violence is bad!

There's little denying the skill with which Haneke constructs his film, keeping the most horrific acts off screen but letting the power of suggestion fill in the gruesome blanks. But it's hard to escape the feeling that the director is far more interested in lecturing us than letting us make up our own minds about our response to screen violence. His favourite trick is to have the young killers occasionally turn to the camera and discuss the film we are watching, but it feels more like a gimmick than anything else.

Although the correct response to Funny Games is to think carefully about why we enjoy watching people get killed for our entertainment, the whole thing left me with an overwhelming desire to spend an afternoon with the collected works of Steven Seagal.