Michael Haneke's "Funny Games"...The MOST disturbing film I've ever watched

Cafe Society
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IFC ran Michael Haneke’s “Funny Games” over the weekend. (I believe it received a nomination for best director at the 1997 Cannes Festival). I caught the movie just as it was starting and can say, without a doubt, this German made film was the most disturbing piece of work I’ve ever seen.

I know there are more chilling movies, with much more violence and more gruesome scenes, but even films like [ul][li]A Clockwork Orange []Natural Born Killers []The Visitors []Desperate Hours[]Sophie’s Choice []Dead Calm[]Little Boy Blue[]Several DePalma films[/ul]didn’t come close to having this rancid and totally unpredictable affect on me.[/li]
What bother’s me, is I can’t figure out exactly why. The best I can come up with is there is no one major factor, just the right mix of minor ones. [ul][li]The protagonists’ politeness, education and appearance were so stereotypically adverse to their sadism and terror…causing me to question my own judgment and street smarts.[]The victims weren’t just at the wrong place at the wrong time; they had a hand in their fate. Even though they didn’t make glaringly large errors in judgment, they still paid a high price for their decisions and their actions…which may cause me to question my very own decisions I’m most likely going to be making in the immediate future[]The way Arno Frish would stop in mid-dialogue and speak directly to the audience…His style and glint in his eye almost had me believing he was talking directly to me.[]The glaring background music (some that sounded like John Zorn/Naked City)…Taunting and perverse in itself, even without images of imminent harm to a young boy[]The German version of the “hit the rewind button” gimmick (similar to that of “Buffalo 66”) was the antithesis of the tool I was used to and prepared for…Leaving me feeling totally robbed[]The fact that almost 4 days later, I’m still worried for the other fictional characters that lived around the lake…Almost like it was an actual event.[/ul]It’s either a mix of the above or my ability to examine my internal feelings has eroded over time.[/li]
I hope I’m not the only person who was so perplexed and bothered by this film. If I am, perhaps it’s time to call a shrink.
Comments, or psychiatric referrals, can be left below.

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I thought it was disturbing until the “rewind”, that took me out of the movie, and was entirely too “post-modern” for my taste. I can see what the point was, to implicate the viewer, but it was just too obvious for me.

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Would either of you mind giving me an idea of what the hell this film is about? All the spoilers you want to throw at me are fine. It’s just that I’ve never heard of this movie, and I find myself strangely intrigued. Is it out on video yet or is it going to be coming soon to an arthouse theater near me?

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WSLer, the movie is a German arthouse suspense thriller. It is similar to Last House on the Left if it had been filmed more competently and had a better script.

Two guys in tennis whites calling each othe “Beavis” and “Butt-Head” terrorise a bougoise family. They initially ask to borrow some eggs, and prey on the family’s “middle-class” values to get into their house. I don’t remember all of the plot details, but at one point one of the killers and the young son of the family are loose in the neighbor’s house with no electricity, so it’s dark. The other killer is “putting the moves” on both mother and daughter while father is forced to watch.
When one of the killers is shot, the other grabs the family’s TV remote and presses rewind causing the film to rewind to before the shot. The killers get away, chatting to the audience at the end- I forget the exact lines but it was to the effect of “You wanted us to do it, admit it.”