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• Director: Michael Haneke
• Genre: Crime/Horror/Drama/Thriller
• Year: 1997

Chances are, if you put this film in your Netflix list, or rented it, or are watching it willingly, you probably knew what you were getting into. A horror film-slash-thriller about two young, bored, rich kids wanting to entertain themselves at the cost of an unsuspecting family. What you probably did not expect was to be made feel guilty for coming in with this mindset. How many films invite you to watch them and then give you a spanking for it? Not many, but that is exactly what Haneke achieved with this film, with a slight tweak of the rules that make the film not only unnerving and uncomfortable, but also technically questionable. It is the sort of film that in the end will stick with you long after you have ejected the DVD.

The synopsis has already been given and it really is not that much more complicated. A family returns from vacation with their young kid, to find themselves visited by friends of the neighbors, who soon enough make it known they are neither friends of the neighbors, nor are they stopping just to borrow some eggs. It would seem, that the two young antagonists, who look to be boys in their late teenage years, are simply looking to find themselves entertained by torturing others, but perhaps more importantly and more troublingly (is that a word?), they are looking to entertain us by actually breaking the fourth wall, something Paul does in a handful of occasions.

Now…it is my understanding that addressing the audience directly is something largely frowned upon, at least, that was the impression I have gotten over the years, and yet I think Haneke has done something very clever with it in this example. To the director’s credit, the mechanism is utilized seldom and with calculated effect. The result is an uncomfortable moment which begins to build guilt for your continued interest in a movie which becomes increasingly violent. The fact that the we are drawn into the moment as accomplices is quite rattling, personally making me flinch. In one instance, when Paul turns to the camera and gives us a small wink and a smirk, it becomes enough for me to recoil and think: Don’t you be making me part of your sick-ass games. And yet that is exactly what makes this film disturbing. It is not the violence itself, because in all honestly, there are thousands of films out there far more violent, more gory and visually more distasteful. So one can not say that the violence of this film is really what becomes so controversial, but rather that they antagonists snatch up the audience and force them to join in, whether willingly or not.

Much of the horror is left implied, not to say there are not some rather brutal moments, but that most of the punch this movie packs is either in the implications, the consequences or the escalating sense of dread that continues to build even after the two young men have finally decided to leave the home (not without having made a true mess of things). In that sense, I have to applaud this film for being so unflinchingly honest about what it is doing without gratuitous gore, but it still does bring up to the forefront, the ‘violence in the media’ question, which these last few years has become more and more prominent.

It took me a while to figure out what troubled me about this movie so much, was it the violence itself? No, not really, because as I stated, I have actually seen much much worse. Was it the breaking of the fourth wall? Initially I thought this was the case, but in the end and after much deliberation, I realized that what bothered me was not the breaking of the fourth wall itself, but rather the violating feeling one gets by being pulled in at such uncomfortable moments. In essence, this movie makes captives of the audience, asking you to side with the two young men, when there is absolutely nothing there to sympathize with. In fact, they have made a conscious effort to give us a very sterile background on Paul and Peter, granting us no information with which to sympathize. We can not say we can understand their motivation, because they may be abused children, or certifiably insane, or any other excuse. There is no cushion for comfort.

There are two versions of this film by the same director, the original (which is the one I saw) which was released in 1997 and the American version released in 2007, which is essentially, shot for shot the same movie, but made with actors you will recognize (Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt). My understanding is that the only changes between the two movies was updating the movie to Americanize it and that is it. I chose to watch the original simply because by seeing non-familiar faces in the roles, I tend to buy the story much more convincingly. And in the case of the original release, the four main actors and the child actor, are so good, that it actually makes this movie much more painful to watch, particularly during heart breaking moments when we are forced to watch form a detached distance, the aftermath of Peter and Paul’s reckless actions.

Kudos to the directing and the acting and solid story telling. But be aware that, though this film may not visually be a gore fest, it does bring with it a tempest of riotous violence that it may provoke pressing the fast forward button which is ironic, given the effect of one of the scenes in this film towards the end, which make the audience feel as if they have been terribly cheated. I mean that in a good way, which may seem awkward, but in this film the utilization of this movie’s self awareness actually serves to drive the point that much more effectively. Ultimately, this film may sicken you or thrill you with its stark commentary on violence, but whether you like it or not, it will certainly give you something to talk about.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Notes: Violence, adult situations, graphic imagery and brief nudity. German with English subtitles. Also, it must be noted that the foreign version got significantly higher marks than the American version. I personally can not make comments on that, since I have not seen the American version myself, but you may want to know that before choosing which version to watch.
Quote: Georg: Why are you doing this to us?
Paul: Why not?