Talk about a tough sell. I’m not truly sure what the intention on Michael Haneke’s part was to remake (allegedly, scene for scene) his own nightmarish FUNNY GAMES since I don’t know who the audience for this film was in the first place. It sure as HELL isn’t an American one. If it is indeed a faithful remake, expect a lot of depressed, disturbed people leaving the theater – on their way to tell friends NOT to see this grotesque “thriller.”
FUNNY GAMES (the original) is sort’ve an intellectual’s torture porn. Two sadistic college kids kidnap a family and proceed to mentally and physically abuse them for over half the film’s running length. All the while, the audience watching is implicated in the crimes, as the dominant, sneering ringleader breaks the fourth wall to talk to us and smirk at his activities. It is not a pleasant movie.
IGN has three stills from the flick, showing Naomi Watts and Tim Roth as the couple, and Michael Pitt and Brady Corbett as the two a-holes who’re getting ready to seriously f*ck with them. FUNNY GAMES is scheduled for a January ‘08 release.