This supposedly shocking, humorless and grim thriller is about an affluent couple (Susanne Lothar and Ulrich Muhe) and their young son, whose attempt at a peaceful retreat is turned into a nightmare. While vacationing at a remote and (so they think) ultra-secure lakeside home, the family is tormented by two clean-cut young men who initially stop by to borrow a few eggs, then won't leave. They try to provoke violence, break the dad's leg with a golf club, kill their dog, make the mother strip and lie about being gay, having horrible childhoods and being drug addicts for a motive (although it's made quite clear that they don't have or necessarily need one). When asked why, one says "Why not?" and it's all for "entertainment value."
The commentary here, I suppose, is to illustrate that society is often pointlessly brutal and sadistic, and there's no real way to pinpoint an exact cause for the increasing violence in the world. Apparently the director is also doing some finger pointing of his own toward "desensitized" audiences who enjoy lapping up simulated violence in their popular entertainment, as well as those who tune into the nightly news to get the scoop on all the real-life horror stories taking place. In taking on this kind of material, Haneke creates the exact kind of film he is demonizing, which will make this a tough sell to certain people. Who doesn't look at the car accident site while they're passing by hoping to see what happened to the poor sucker involved in the wreck? Who doesn't see a violent scenario playing out in a film or on a TV show and stop to take a look? Most of us do... In my estimation, it's completely natural and healthy to fill one's morbid curiosity about the darker aspects of life and death via film, art and music. I'm not entirely sure what the point is in making us feel bad or guilty about it. If the director is simply wondering why violence and horror are so appealing to the masses, then his film completely lacks any insight, depth or psychological credibility when it comes to that topic.
There's some flashy direction, but unfortunately, a lot of it just doesn't work... like long, unbroken takes that seem to go on for hours and a character who talks to the camera ("Is that enough?") and then grabs a remote and rewinds the movie after something doesn't go his way. This was an official selection at Cannes and has a fan following, but I found it unpleasant, pretentious and downright boring at times, and it's nothing that numerous other films didn't already do (and do better) in the early 1970s.
The commentary here, I suppose, is to illustrate that society is often pointlessly brutal and sadistic, and there's no real way to pinpoint an exact cause for the increasing violence in the world. Apparently the director is also doing some finger pointing of his own toward "desensitized" audiences who enjoy lapping up simulated violence in their popular entertainment, as well as those who tune into the nightly news to get the scoop on all the real-life horror stories taking place. In taking on this kind of material, Haneke creates the exact kind of film he is demonizing, which will make this a tough sell to certain people. Who doesn't look at the car accident site while they're passing by hoping to see what happened to the poor sucker involved in the wreck? Who doesn't see a violent scenario playing out in a film or on a TV show and stop to take a look? Most of us do... In my estimation, it's completely natural and healthy to fill one's morbid curiosity about the darker aspects of life and death via film, art and music. I'm not entirely sure what the point is in making us feel bad or guilty about it. If the director is simply wondering why violence and horror are so appealing to the masses, then his film completely lacks any insight, depth or psychological credibility when it comes to that topic.
There's some flashy direction, but unfortunately, a lot of it just doesn't work... like long, unbroken takes that seem to go on for hours and a character who talks to the camera ("Is that enough?") and then grabs a remote and rewinds the movie after something doesn't go his way. This was an official selection at Cannes and has a fan following, but I found it unpleasant, pretentious and downright boring at times, and it's nothing that numerous other films didn't already do (and do better) in the early 1970s.