This is not so much a movie as it is about the experience of watching movies and what it says about our fears and desires. There are two basic reasons for watching a movie from the classic "home invasion" genre. One is to be entertained and the other is to somehow rid ourselves of our fears by facing them in a low risk way. In both cases it is the director who is piling the "funny games" on us, with our compliance.
Notice that the poster for this movie shows a frightening image reflected in an eye. It is as though that eye is a window into the inner psyche and that the camera is peering into our fears.
In the case of entertainment, this can only work if we are so scared out of our wits that we forget whatever else was worrying us in our everyday life and thereby see it in perspective. There are however conventions that are required for making this work. The source of the fear [ie. the bad guys] must get what's coming to them and there must be a happy ending. Notice your reaction when you get neither. The remote trick pulls back the satisfaction of revenge and the ending makes it clear that the fear not only hasn't gone away but instead must be relived again and again!
Arno Frisch [the skinny bad guy] can be viewed as the director who periodically peers at us thru the camera, smirks and reminds us that we are watching a movie, and reveals to us the funny games that he and other directors play on us at our insistence.
Notice that the poster for this movie shows a frightening image reflected in an eye. It is as though that eye is a window into the inner psyche and that the camera is peering into our fears.
In the case of entertainment, this can only work if we are so scared out of our wits that we forget whatever else was worrying us in our everyday life and thereby see it in perspective. There are however conventions that are required for making this work. The source of the fear [ie. the bad guys] must get what's coming to them and there must be a happy ending. Notice your reaction when you get neither. The remote trick pulls back the satisfaction of revenge and the ending makes it clear that the fear not only hasn't gone away but instead must be relived again and again!
Arno Frisch [the skinny bad guy] can be viewed as the director who periodically peers at us thru the camera, smirks and reminds us that we are watching a movie, and reveals to us the funny games that he and other directors play on us at our insistence.