Funny Games was initially released in Germany in 1998 and was remade by the same director in 2007 in order to connect with a wider audience. This is one of the few times that I am fully on board with a remake as the second iteration of the story was facilitated by the creator of the first.
Both films (Funny Games and God Bless America) have my full support and will affect the viewer deeply in different ways.
Since I believe that no film can be properly reviewed using a "star" or "thumbs" scale, I have broken film-making down into its base components. Not everyone watches a film for the same reasons so it can be nice to review the segments for what they are.
There are no spoilers in this review that are immediately visible. If you see this {[SPOILERS]} then select the invisible/white text under it to reveal the information. This will allow everyone to safely read the page without fear of ruining the film for anyone!
Year: 2011
Country: USA
Premise: Frank has had enough of the downward spiral of America. With nothing to lose, he decides to off the stupidest, cruelest, and most repellent members of modern society.
IMDB Site
Rotten Tomatoes Site
Film: Funny Games
Year: 2011
Country: USA/Germany
Premise: A family settles into their vacation home, which happens to be the next stop for a trio of young, articulate, white-gloved serial killers on an excursion through the neighborhood. You are one of those killers.
IMDB Site
Rotten Tomatoes Site
Story Evolution
God Bless America:
A charming, angry, and wry narrator draws the audience into caring about the situation long before the characters work their way into our hearts. The story takes very few narrative turns but makes up for it by having such a strong and well fleshed out concept, that nary a second is spent looking at the clock during this film.
Funny Games:
The beginning credits are, in my mind, one of the most effecting/hilarious openings in film history. The audience starts off thinking they know exactly where the story is going as the threat is introduced early in the story. As the tale unfurls, the story manages to make the audience feel both interested in what will happen next and guilty that the events taking place are directly their fault simultaneously. Funny Games is a great experiment in psychologically, interactive filmmaking.
God Bless America:
This is a film that constantly asks big questions. It occasionally insults the viewer and questions their validity as functional members of society. This movie never stops taking on big societal issues and taking aim at everyone and everything in its path, expect to think and laugh a lot.
Funny Games:
For the most part, this nail-biter starts off pretty straight-forward in the intelligence department. Every so often the directer subtly throws a question, statement, or acknowledgement toward the viewers until the film builds to a near conversation with the viewer as a participant in a blood-soaked discussion about the role of cruelty in entertainment. The narrative ends, but builds to a large query in the mind of the audience, {[SPOILERS]} does horror, terror, and evil exist in life simply because we are, on some level, entertained by it? {[END SPOILERS]}
Character
God Bless America:
Many of these characters are people you already know. From entertainers to politicians to the couple next door who are eerily similar to the ones in the movie, God Bless America nails our current culture in terms of characters and how they affect society in general. The two central characters represent two different, yet equally disturbed, points of view on the current situation in the United States. Frank, our protagonist, is developed extremely well and his character arc alone is fascinating to watch.
Funny Games:
While the characters are not entirely fleshed out, they are given enough subtlety that makes the audience wish to know more about them. The family and the two strangers represent two different sides of the viewers...this concept is tied very deeply to the central themes of the film.
God Bless America
Visual Tone
Both movie share a similar realistic yet slightly over-saturated visual tone. God Bless America occasionally becomes very stylized in terms of color and execution, but both stay within an enhanced visual reality.
Funny games
VSFX
God Bless America:
Some light blood fx. An, offscreen, exploding baby was probably the hardest things to swallow, everything else was pretty light.
Funny Games:
I do not recall there being any discernible visual effects.
Audio
God Bless America:
Some great classic rock that enhances the overall anti-establishment feel. There is a long and educational rant about Alice Cooper.
Funny Games:
Classical music and screams. Really. The opening scene has the best use of juxtaposition in audio to set up a thematic tone I have ever seen/heard. Most of this soundtrack is forgettable, but you'll walk away laughing about the excellence of the opening credits.
God Bless America:
There is no real terror (or even gore) to speak of. This is a film that uses the violence as a counterpoint to the main theme. The film has very little tension and very big ideas.
Funny Games:
You might feel played. Funny Games is not funny but razor sharp in concept and tension level. The audience often begins to feel guilty when viewing this film {[SPOILERS]} as it is made increasingly clear that the two antagonists are torturing this family simply for our viewing "pleasure". {[END SPOILERS]} There is little relief and many who view this film (especially critics) leave feeling assaulted and insulted. In my opinion, that's what makes this a gem. It lures the audience in, then berates them for it.
God Bless America:
When did we as a people become so narcissistic? Why is it acceptable for television and internet culture to make people "famous" only to make fun of them in the process? Do we care about the strangers around us or are they merely threats?
This movie presents a paradox {[SPOILERS]} in that the protagonist appears to have snapped due to a general lack of kindness; in order to promote this viewpoint, Frank sets out to kill those who "deserve it"...{[END SPOILERS]} This raises excellent questions to think over and goes into great detail about issues that need to be discussed, yet cuts it's own feet out from under the main argument in the process. If the writing were less developed, this would be a negative thing but in the case of God Bless America, the central moral paradox only adds to the intelligent moral complexity.
Funny Games:
Violence. Sexual humiliation. Slow torture. "We must never underestimate the value of entertainment" -an antagonist calmly explains. This is a film that makes excellent points about the ethics of entertainment, but at the cost of being sometimes painful to experience...once again, this only enhances the message.
Final Thoughts
God Bless America:
"I would defend their freedom of speech if I thought it was in jeopardy. I would defend their freedom of speech to tell uninspired, bigoted, blowjob, gay-bashing, racist and rape jokes all under the guise of being edgy, but that's not the edge. That's what sells. They couldn't possibly pander any harder or be more commercially mainstream, because this is the 'Oh no, you didn't say that!' generation, where a shocking comment has more weight than the truth. No one has any shame anymore, and we're supposed to celebrate it. I saw a woman throw a used tampon at another woman last night on network television, a network that bills itself as 'Today's Woman's Channel'. Kids beat each other blind and post it on Youtube. I mean, do you remember when eating rats and maggots on Survivor was shocking? It all seems so quaint now. I'm sure the girls from '2 Girls 1 Cup' are gonna have their own dating show on VH-1 any day now. I mean, why have a civilization anymore if we no longer are interested in being civilized?" -Frank
This quote occurs at the beginning of the film. This movie is one intelligent and angry breakdown of society after another, you need to watch this as soon as possible. God Bless America has a message that needs to be spread.
This quote occurs at the beginning of the film. This movie is one intelligent and angry breakdown of society after another, you need to watch this as soon as possible. God Bless America has a message that needs to be spread.
Funny Games:
I always recommend this film with reservations. Some people, when quite frightened, resort to making jokes to break their own tension. Films like Funny Games, I refuse to recommend or view with such people, as they will spend the entire time scared and loud, desperately attempting to be amusing at the expense of an excellent movie. Oddly enough, that very attitude forms the groundwork for the thesis of this film, the concept of the place of fright and brutality in an entertainment context. Who is to blame?
Why does it exist?
Funny Games has an wonderful title in that it is not even slightly funny (opening aside), yet the grim escapades bring great amusement to several characters who treat the ordeal as if it were a game.
How often do we do the same thing?
Happy Viewing!
Josh Evans
