...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Funny Games
- 479 statements
- 93 feature instances
- 30 referencing feature instances
| Funny Games | type |
TVTItem | |
| Funny Games | label |
Funny Games | |
| Funny Games | page |
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| Funny Games | comment |
Funny Games is a 1997 Austrian satirical psychological thriller film written and directed by Michael Haneke and starring Susanne Lothar and Ulrich Mühe. The film was additionally given an American Shot-for-Shot Remake in 2007, also written and directed by Haneke and featuring an English-speaking cast led by Naomi Watts and Tim Roth. Considering Haneke wanted to make a film in America but had to make the original in Austria for practical reasons, the remake is in a way closer to his true artistic vision for the film.Both films center on a yuppie family arriving at their lakeside vacation house. Pulling into their driveway, they see their neighbor has some new guests: two clean-cut, polite young men dressed in white who look like they've just walked off a golf course.The men soon arrive on the family's doorstep making a number of requests and imposing on their hospitality. Eventually, the family tires of them and asks them to leave, but they ignore the requests. After the husband slaps one of the men, they break his leg with his own golf club and take the family hostage.It soon becomes clear that the two men are psychopaths, though they maintain a nonchalant and even friendly facade. They intend to spend the night torturing the family with a number of cruel games, holding a bet between themselves that no one in the family will be alive by 9:00 the next morning.Although its surface-level premise is that of a home invasion movie promising violence and suffering aplenty, Funny Games is actually intended as a deconstruction of such films — and a giant middle finger to anyone who'd want to watch them in the first place. On a wider scale, the film also functions as a statement from Haneke on how violence is treated and portrayed by the medianote Although it wasn't explicitly confirmed as inspiration, it is of note that the remake was released during a time when works often classified as Torture Porn were a highly prevalent craze within American horror, and how horrific normally glamorized scenes and story conventions are when presented in a realistic form. | |
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2024-04-17T20:30:54Z | |
| Funny Games | parsed |
2024-04-17T20:30:54Z | |
| Funny Games | processingComment |
Dropped link to AClockworkOrange: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
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Dropped link to ChaseScene: Not a Feature - IGNORE | |
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Dropped link to ConservationOfDetail: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN | |
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Dropped link to LetsMakeADeal: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
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| Funny Games / int_1422b7bd | type |
"Oh, Crap!" Fakeout | |
| Funny Games / int_1422b7bd | comment |
"Oh, Crap!" Fakeout: When Peter and Paul pull their Freudian Excuse prank on the father. | |
| Funny Games / int_1422b7bd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_1422b7bd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_1422b7bd | |
| Funny Games / int_144ec68f | type |
Negated Moment of Awesome | |
| Funny Games / int_144ec68f | comment |
Negated Moment of Awesome: Ann displays a spontaneous burst of badassery when she snatches a gun and shoots Peter to kingdom come, but this doesn't stop Paul from rewinding time to undo it. Likewise, Ann's attempt to free herself with the knife ends in an anticlimax when Paul and Peter notice and throw away the knife. | |
| Funny Games / int_144ec68f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_144ec68f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_144ec68f | |
| Funny Games / int_14ed6ab7 | type |
Does This Remind You of Anything? | |
| Funny Games / int_14ed6ab7 | comment |
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Given that Paul is a Fourth-Wall Observer who is aware of the viewers and wants to amuse them, a lot of his actions parallel those of a director producing a movie. In most of the games played, Paul tells the victims what he wants them to do and expresses disapproval if they ignore his instructions, which is reminiscent of a director advising the actors on how they should perform according to the director's vision. Since Paul made a bet with the Farbers that they won't survive until 9 a.m., Paul periodically asks Peter for the time. Notably, Paul asks for the time before deciding to kill someone, the same way that a storyteller knows they have to off a Sacrificial Lion to up the stakes but has to decide which characters have more potential alive than dead. When Paul chases Georgie, he decides to play some music for no other reason other than to heighten the suspense. After Anne kills Peter, Paul rewinds the movie and literally gets a "take two" on filming the same scene. In addition, Paul sometimes behaves the same way a spectator would when watching a movie. For example, during Georgie's death, Paul is rummaging through the refrigerator for something to eat and only hears the gunshot, similar to how a theater-goer may take a break from the movie and consequently miss seeing important scenes. | |
| Funny Games / int_14ed6ab7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_14ed6ab7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_14ed6ab7 | |
| Funny Games / int_18ba2fe | type |
Sound-Only Death | |
| Funny Games / int_18ba2fe | comment |
Sound-Only Death: The dog utters a death-cry when Paul hits it with the golf club. When Georgie is killed, it happens in the next room while Paul makes food, and the audience only hears the sound of the rifle going off. Same goes for the father in that the audience only hears the gunshot that kills him. | |
| Funny Games / int_18ba2fe | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_18ba2fe | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
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| Funny Games / int_18d15922 | type |
Title Drop | |
| Funny Games / int_18d15922 | comment |
Title Drop: In the Austrian original, when Anne apologizes for the dog's actions, she says the dog just wants to play a game, to which Peter dryly responds "Funny game." | |
| Funny Games / int_18d15922 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_18d15922 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_18d15922 | |
| Funny Games / int_19ba91b5 | type |
Home Field Advantage | |
| Funny Games / int_19ba91b5 | comment |
The protagonists of home-invasion stories usually have some kind of Home Field Advantage over the invaders, but there is no such luck here. The Farbers' home does have plenty of security, such as a gate with an electronic lock, and thus will be easy to fortify, but the Farbers never have the prep time to weaponize the house against Paul and Peter. For extra irony, the house's locked gate ends up impeding the family's escape attempts and helping the villains recapture the Farbers. On a similar note, when Georgie reaches the neighbor's house for refuge, the surveillance lights turn on, exposing his location to Paul. | |
| Funny Games / int_19ba91b5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_19ba91b5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_19ba91b5 | |
| Funny Games / int_19ebe383 | type |
Never Trust a Trailer | |
| Funny Games / int_19ebe383 | comment |
Never Trust a Trailer: Downplayed. The trailer for the American remake makes the film look a bit more like a black comedy than a straight-up horror film. | |
| Funny Games / int_19ebe383 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_19ebe383 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_19ebe383 | |
| Funny Games / int_1e1aa82a | type |
Diabolus ex Machina | |
| Funny Games / int_1e1aa82a | comment |
Diabolus ex Machina: Paul's ability to rewind time comes out of nowhere and allows him to prevent Ann from winning the game. | |
| Funny Games / int_1e1aa82a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_1e1aa82a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_1e1aa82a | |
| Funny Games / int_22294000 | type |
Sarcastic Title | |
| Funny Games / int_22294000 | comment |
Sarcastic Title: There is nothing funny about this movie whatsoever. | |
| Funny Games / int_22294000 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_22294000 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_22294000 | |
| Funny Games / int_22cf536c | type |
Chekhov's Gun | |
| Funny Games / int_22cf536c | comment |
Chekhov's Gun: The film takes its time focusing on the driveway gate after the Farbers enter their vacation home. The Farbers' golf club bags have an early appearance when the Farbers organize their things. At one point, Anne gets a knife from the kitchen to cut her husband loose from his binds. Paul and Peter later use the same knife for their next game "The Loving Wife". Subverted in the case of the knife in the sailboat. Early on, George and Georgie Jr. accidentally leave a knife aboard the boat. Later, Ann uses said knife to cut her bonds, but Paul and Peter quickly confiscate it. While waiting for Paul, Peter turns on the television and uses a remote control to flick through the television channels. Paul later uses the same remote to undo Peter's death. | |
| Funny Games / int_22cf536c | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Funny Games / int_22cf536c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_22cf536c | |
| Funny Games / int_23e32a30 | type |
Genre Deconstruction | |
| Funny Games / int_23e32a30 | comment |
Genre Deconstruction: The film subverts the viewer's expectations for a Thriller and thanks to the attendant Deconstructor Fleet, thus continues to deliberately frustrate fans of similar genres. The entire movie is a commentary on abuse as entertainment in general and the deconstruction lies in that it shows this abuse without glorification, without any emotional or moral justifications and without giving the audience the comfort of the dehumanizing effects of gorn and Nausea Fuel. The killers as Audience Surrogates are continually disappointed when the family does the more common sense action rather than ratcheting up the tension, and the real violence is only heard not seen. Likewise, when the killers threaten the mother into undressing, the camera focuses on her face rather than her nudity. The film satirizes the Excuse Plot of thrillers and similar genres by having the killers attack the family after George refuses to lend Paul and Peter some eggs. The killers similarly do not have a real motive for torturing the family other than the fact that it is fun. This is then deconstructed after the killers leave the family alone to extend the running time to feature-film length: the story slows down because ultimately Paul and Peter are the ones instigating the plot and without them, there is no story. The movie also deconstructs the standard home-invasion plot in several ways. For one, the invaders get into the home through social engineering rather than brute force. The Farbers initially fall for the deception because Paul and Peter follow social norms at first and apologize for their more questionable behavior. By the time the Farbers figure out Paul and Peter's true intentions, it's too late. The protagonists of home-invasion stories usually have some kind of Home Field Advantage over the invaders, but there is no such luck here. The Farbers' home does have plenty of security, such as a gate with an electronic lock, and thus will be easy to fortify, but the Farbers never have the prep time to weaponize the house against Paul and Peter. For extra irony, the house's locked gate ends up impeding the family's escape attempts and helping the villains recapture the Farbers. On a similar note, when Georgie reaches the neighbor's house for refuge, the surveillance lights turn on, exposing his location to Paul. The idea behind Paul's Fourth Wall Breaking is to deconstruct the audience's role in storytelling by pointing out how the stories in question manipulate the audience's Willing Suspension of Disbelief to entertain them. For example, Paul's bet with the audience and subsequent guess that the audience is on the family's side apply to every story with conflict: a first-time viewer will not know the outcome and will usually root for the more sympathetic protagonists to prevail. Paul's remote control rewind is the most blatant case of this as it undoes Ann's victory and confirms that Paul's bet with the Farbers was rigged to always end with Peter and him winning just as every story is rigged to end in a certain way depending on the writers' whims. The whole point of subverting the Final Girl was to trick the audience into falling for an old horror cliché: "the final female survivor kills the villains." The movie initially sets up the knife dropped by George and Georgie Jr. as a convenient Chekhov's Gun for Ann, only to disregard it as a useless Red Herring by the end. The knife's real purpose was to keep the viewers hopeful for a Surprisingly Happy Ending even though Paul just demonstrated that the Farbers have no shot at winning. | |
| Funny Games / int_23e32a30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_23e32a30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_23e32a30 | |
| Funny Games / int_269e82c1 | type |
Death of a Child | |
| Funny Games / int_269e82c1 | comment |
Death of a Child: Georgie finds the neighbor's daughter lying dead in the bathroom of her house. In addition, Georgie is the first one to die. | |
| Funny Games / int_269e82c1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_269e82c1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_269e82c1 | |
| Funny Games / int_272abb98 | type |
Shoot the Shaggy Dog | |
| Funny Games / int_272abb98 | comment |
Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Not only do all the sympathetic characters die, but this is neither the first nor last time that this exact scenario has played out for the killers. What's more, the rewind trick suggests that the chances of any future targets to survive are next to zero. | |
| Funny Games / int_272abb98 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_272abb98 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_272abb98 | |
| Funny Games / int_2e8441c9 | type |
The Bad Guy Wins | |
| Funny Games / int_2e8441c9 | comment |
The Bad Guy Wins: To put it shortly, Peter and Paul ultimately win their bet. | |
| Funny Games / int_2e8441c9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_2e8441c9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_2e8441c9 | |
| Funny Games / int_2eb94abd | type |
Deadly Euphemism | |
| Funny Games / int_2eb94abd | comment |
Deadly Euphemism: How Paul reveals that he killed the dog: | |
| Funny Games / int_2eb94abd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_2eb94abd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_2eb94abd | |
| Funny Games / int_2f187e89 | type |
It Works Better with Bullets | |
| Funny Games / int_2f187e89 | comment |
It Works Better with Bullets: The son directs a rifle at Paul and pulls the trigger. Nothing happens. Turns out the weapon wasn't loaded. | |
| Funny Games / int_2f187e89 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_2f187e89 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_2f187e89 | |
| Funny Games / int_3a3489f | type |
Fourth-Wall Observer | |
| Funny Games / int_3a3489f | comment |
Given that Paul is a Fourth-Wall Observer who is aware of the viewers and wants to amuse them, a lot of his actions parallel those of a director producing a movie. In most of the games played, Paul tells the victims what he wants them to do and expresses disapproval if they ignore his instructions, which is reminiscent of a director advising the actors on how they should perform according to the director's vision. Since Paul made a bet with the Farbers that they won't survive until 9 a.m., Paul periodically asks Peter for the time. Notably, Paul asks for the time before deciding to kill someone, the same way that a storyteller knows they have to off a Sacrificial Lion to up the stakes but has to decide which characters have more potential alive than dead. When Paul chases Georgie, he decides to play some music for no other reason other than to heighten the suspense. After Anne kills Peter, Paul rewinds the movie and literally gets a "take two" on filming the same scene. | |
| Funny Games / int_3a3489f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_3a3489f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_3a3489f | |
| Funny Games / int_3b4f620a | type |
No Fourth Wall | |
| Funny Games / int_3b4f620a | comment |
No Fourth Wall: Paul is completely aware that he's in a film. He smirks at the camera several times and makes snide comments to the audience about what they expect will happen. He also makes several comments that the killers' timing and sequence of actions are based on traditional plot structure. | |
| Funny Games / int_3b4f620a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_3b4f620a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_3b4f620a | |
| Funny Games / int_3d8bd0a9 | type |
Subterfuge Judo | |
| Funny Games / int_3d8bd0a9 | comment |
For one, the invaders get into the home through social engineering rather than brute force. The Farbers initially fall for the deception because Paul and Peter follow social norms at first and apologize for their more questionable behavior. By the time the Farbers figure out Paul and Peter's true intentions, it's too late. | |
| Funny Games / int_3d8bd0a9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_3d8bd0a9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_3d8bd0a9 | |
| Funny Games / int_3ea462d7 | type |
Take That, Audience! | |
| Funny Games / int_3ea462d7 | comment |
Take That, Audience!: A number of events in the film are this, including the rewind scene, in which the audience is given what it wants and then cruelly undone. | |
| Funny Games / int_3ea462d7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_3ea462d7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_3ea462d7 | |
| Funny Games / int_407d3e6d | type |
Morton's Fork | |
| Funny Games / int_407d3e6d | comment |
The wife is forced to decide if the villains kill her husband quickly by gunshot or slowly by knife, which is also a Morton's Fork. | |
| Funny Games / int_407d3e6d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_407d3e6d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_407d3e6d | |
| Funny Games / int_423f5a19 | type |
Killed Offscreen | |
| Funny Games / int_423f5a19 | comment |
Likewise, when Fred arrives with Paul to help George and Georgie with the boat, he doesn't communicate to the Farbers that he needs their help. Since Peter appears a short while after, it is implied that Peter stayed back with Fred's wife and daughter to keep Fred in line and to guarantee Fred's word that he will help the duo infiltrate the Farbers' home. It becomes more tragic when one realizes that Paul and Peter had no intent of keeping their promise as Fred disappears after helping the Farbers with the boat, indicating that he was Killed Offscreen by Paul, and Georgie subsequently finds Jenny's corpse in the Thompsons' house, meaning that Peter killed the other Thompsons after Paul and Fred left for the Farbers' home. As such, Paul lazily jogs after Georgie when he spots him near the Thompsons' house because he knows that there is no one there that can help Georgie. | |
| Funny Games / int_423f5a19 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_423f5a19 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_423f5a19 | |
| Funny Games / int_49f20c6a | type |
Gory Discretion Shot | |
| Funny Games / int_49f20c6a | comment |
Gory Discretion Shot: Zigzagged. The murders of the entire family fall under this with the deaths of the dog, Georgie Jr., and George falling under Sound-Only Death. However, this is averted with Peter's death, which is the only death shown on screen. | |
| Funny Games / int_49f20c6a | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_49f20c6a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_49f20c6a | |
| Funny Games / int_4a3e547f | type |
Leaning on the Fourth Wall | |
| Funny Games / int_4a3e547f | comment |
Leaning on the Fourth Wall: While Peter isn't aware of the Fourth Wall like Paul is, he makes comments that make sense both from an In-Universe perspective and a meta perspective. A tagline for the remake was "You must admit, you brought this on yourself." While this functions as a message from Paul and Peter to the family they terrorize, it can also be interpreted as a sardonic message to the American audiences the remake was released to, as they had contributed in making films that gleefully depict the sadistic torture of innocents into the horror craze of the time, and as such were "due" for a film that works deliberately to not give such an audience what they want. | |
| Funny Games / int_4a3e547f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_4a3e547f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_4a3e547f | |
| Funny Games / int_4e3d253b | type |
Downer Ending | |
| Funny Games / int_4e3d253b | comment |
Downer Ending: All three family members and their dog are killed before 9:00, the villains win their bet, and the film ends with Paul asking another neighbor for eggs, restarting their "game". | |
| Funny Games / int_4e3d253b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_4e3d253b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_4e3d253b | |
| Funny Games / int_4e7c4536 | type |
Wham Line | |
| Funny Games / int_4e7c4536 | comment |
Wham Line: Paul's line "Where's the remote control?" is the point when the movie fully shows its hand. This is followed up by a Wham Shot of Paul rewinding the movie to undo the death of Peter and to win the bet. | |
| Funny Games / int_4e7c4536 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_4e7c4536 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_4e7c4536 | |
| Funny Games / int_5107bba4 | type |
May I Borrow a Cup of Sugar? | |
| Funny Games / int_5107bba4 | comment |
May I Borrow a Cup of Sugar?: The two men first come over to borrow some eggs. | |
| Funny Games / int_5107bba4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_5107bba4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_5107bba4 | |
| Funny Games / int_53224e46 | type |
Bookends | |
| Funny Games / int_53224e46 | comment |
Bookends: The title of the film is shown in red text at the beginning and end of the film, accompanied by the same metal song. | |
| Funny Games / int_53224e46 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_53224e46 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_53224e46 | |
| Funny Games / int_534bf3ee | type |
Deceptively Silly Title | |
| Funny Games / int_534bf3ee | comment |
Deceptively Silly Title: A film about two guys who decide to murder a family just because they can is far from funny. | |
| Funny Games / int_534bf3ee | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_534bf3ee | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_534bf3ee | |
| Funny Games / int_550754dc | type |
Improbable Infant Survival | |
| Funny Games / int_550754dc | comment |
Georgie's death not only averts Improbable Infant Survival, but it also means that Anyone Can Die. | |
| Funny Games / int_550754dc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_550754dc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_550754dc | |
| Funny Games / int_56fb299 | type |
Raincoat of Horror | |
| Funny Games / int_56fb299 | comment |
Raincoat of Horror: Worn by the two villains in the final scene on the boat. | |
| Funny Games / int_56fb299 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_56fb299 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_56fb299 | |
| Funny Games / int_574c0dd2 | type |
Conveniently Placed Sharp Thing | |
| Funny Games / int_574c0dd2 | comment |
Conveniently Placed Sharp Thing: A knife that's been left in the family's boat is later used by a tied-up Ann to try and free herself. Subverted, in that Paul and Peter see her, take the knife away, and throw it overboard. As well as Ann herself. | |
| Funny Games / int_574c0dd2 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Funny Games / int_574c0dd2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_574c0dd2 | |
| Funny Games / int_5eca52dc | type |
Distress Call | |
| Funny Games / int_5eca52dc | comment |
The cellphone comes back to life, giving the survivors hope of rescue. But no, the Distress Call amounts to nothing. | |
| Funny Games / int_5eca52dc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_5eca52dc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_5eca52dc | |
| Funny Games / int_606244c2 | type |
Parental Incest | |
| Funny Games / int_606244c2 | comment |
Parental Incest: Paul mentions that Peter sleeps with his own mother. Subverted as it's revealed to be a lie as the two killers are simply messing with the protagonists' mind. | |
| Funny Games / int_606244c2 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Funny Games / int_606244c2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_606244c2 | |
| Funny Games / int_619985d7 | type |
Sacrificial Lion | |
| Funny Games / int_619985d7 | comment |
Since Paul made a bet with the Farbers that they won't survive until 9 a.m., Paul periodically asks Peter for the time. Notably, Paul asks for the time before deciding to kill someone, the same way that a storyteller knows they have to off a Sacrificial Lion to up the stakes but has to decide which characters have more potential alive than dead. | |
| Funny Games / int_619985d7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_619985d7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_619985d7 | |
| Funny Games / int_653c5c73 | type |
Cannot Spit It Out | |
| Funny Games / int_653c5c73 | comment |
In their first scene, the Thompsons seem strangely passive for victims of two psychopaths since they don't even try to seek help from the Farbers. However, Georgie immediately remarks that the Thompsons' daughter Jenny is missing, which suggests that Paul and Peter have Jenny locked up somewhere to discourage the Thompsons from fighting back. Indeed, Ann later finds herself unable to ask her other neighbors for help because Peter is holding her husband and son hostage. | |
| Funny Games / int_653c5c73 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_653c5c73 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_653c5c73 | |
| Funny Games / int_697b1af | type |
Jump Cut | |
| Funny Games / int_697b1af | comment |
Like most movies, Funny Games relies on jump cuts to skip trivial events, but Paul's line about the movie's running time indicates that he is the one fast-forwarding through the movie. | |
| Funny Games / int_697b1af | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_697b1af | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_697b1af | |
| Funny Games / int_6b2b3b59 | type |
The Reveal | |
| Funny Games / int_6b2b3b59 | comment |
The Reveal that Paul is a Reality Warper changes the context of certain scenes. Paul starts making eye-contact with the audience during the "Hot and Cold" game, but this isn't the earliest time he breaks the fourth wall as Paul afterwards demonstrates that he can change the soundtrack to John Zorn's "Bonehead" and "Hellraiser" any time he wishes. Thus, the first fourth-wall break occurs during the intro when Paul plays the song "Bonehead" and mutes the protagonists' classical music. Paul's conversations with the audience appear to be Acceptable Breaks from Reality at first because while immersion-breaking, they don't affect the plot, and none of the other characters acknowledge the conversations, which makes it easy to ignore the aforementioned fourth-wall breaks. However, in hindsight, they are reminiscent of Paul's time-rewind at the climax as Paul basically pauses the movie every moment he talks to the watchers. After Georgie escapes the house, he gets a good head start mainly because Paul wastes time looking for him upstairs, yet when Georgie reaches the Thompsons' home, it turns out that Paul isn't too far away. On a first watch, this may just be a Contrived Coincidence to set up the chase scene in the house, but on repeat viewings, it is justified by the fact that Paul controls the movie, which includes the camera that he acknowledges and positions to better address the audience, so Paul already knows to where exactly Georgie is running. Same goes for the part where Paul gets a rifle pointed at him. Paul didn't merely guess that Georgie's gun was empty, he knew that Georgie didn't load the gun. Like most movies, Funny Games relies on jump cuts to skip trivial events, but Paul's line about the movie's running time indicates that he is the one fast-forwarding through the movie. | |
| Funny Games / int_6b2b3b59 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_6b2b3b59 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_6b2b3b59 | |
| Funny Games / int_6bd689ca | type |
Meaningful Echo | |
| Funny Games / int_6bd689ca | comment |
Meaningful Echo: After Ann successfully completes the killers' challenge of reciting a prayer, Paul tells her "Okay, that was the test run", essentially letting slip that he isn't interested in playing fair. Later, after Ann kills Peter, Paul rewinds the movie back to the point where he says "Okay, that was the test run". | |
| Funny Games / int_6bd689ca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_6bd689ca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_6bd689ca | |
| Funny Games / int_6edc54d5 | type |
Here We Go Again! | |
| Funny Games / int_6edc54d5 | comment |
Here We Go Again!: The bulk of the film is neither the first nor last time these killers will play their game. They appear with the neighbors early on and at the end of the film, they start the whole thing over again with some other neighbors. | |
| Funny Games / int_6edc54d5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_6edc54d5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_6edc54d5 | |
| Funny Games / int_70d8269d | type |
Excuse Plot | |
| Funny Games / int_70d8269d | comment |
The film satirizes the Excuse Plot of thrillers and similar genres by having the killers attack the family after George refuses to lend Paul and Peter some eggs. The killers similarly do not have a real motive for torturing the family other than the fact that it is fun. This is then deconstructed after the killers leave the family alone to extend the running time to feature-film length: the story slows down because ultimately Paul and Peter are the ones instigating the plot and without them, there is no story. | |
| Funny Games / int_70d8269d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_70d8269d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_70d8269d | |
| Funny Games / int_74f57438 | type |
Cell Phones Are Useless | |
| Funny Games / int_74f57438 | comment |
Cell Phones Are Useless: The mother's cell phone is disabled after getting dropped in the sink, frying the battery, very much Truth in Television. | |
| Funny Games / int_74f57438 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_74f57438 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_74f57438 | |
| Funny Games / int_7d3f1d63 | type |
The Ending Changes Everything | |
| Funny Games / int_7d3f1d63 | comment |
The Ending Changes Everything: Paul's remote-control rewind confirms that the protagonists had no chance of winning Paul's bet as it was a rigged game from the very start. On a lesser note, it also verifies that Paul's fourth-wall breaking isn't limited to speaking to the viewers and that Paul has been quietly editing the movie in the background. | |
| Funny Games / int_7d3f1d63 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_7d3f1d63 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_7d3f1d63 | |
| Funny Games / int_7d49d74a | type |
Cultural Translation | |
| Funny Games / int_7d49d74a | comment |
Cultural Translation: Played with. Haneke initially intended Funny Games to be an American film but was forced to make the original film in Austria. Despite this change, the Austrian version still featured many references to American pop culture. Eventually, the movie was remade as an American film, thus rendering the Shout-Outs to American culture much more appropriate. | |
| Funny Games / int_7d49d74a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_7d49d74a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_7d49d74a | |
| Funny Games / int_7df2b942 | type |
Moving the Goalposts | |
| Funny Games / int_7df2b942 | comment |
Moving the Goalposts: Paul enjoys doing this to the mother. First, he only wants her to recite a prayer. Then he demands her to pronounce it in a more affectionate way. Next, he wants her to kneel while saying the prayer. Lastly, she is supposed to recite the prayer back to front. | |
| Funny Games / int_7df2b942 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_7df2b942 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_7df2b942 | |
| Funny Games / int_8ace85ef | type |
Audience Surrogate | |
| Funny Games / int_8ace85ef | comment |
In addition, Paul sometimes behaves the same way a spectator would when watching a movie. For example, during Georgie's death, Paul is rummaging through the refrigerator for something to eat and only hears the gunshot, similar to how a theater-goer may take a break from the movie and consequently miss seeing important scenes. | |
| Funny Games / int_8ace85ef | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_8ace85ef | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_8ace85ef | |
| Funny Games / int_8d0e21d2 | type |
Euroshlock | |
| Funny Games / int_8d0e21d2 | comment |
Euroshlock: It's not gory or pornographic, but its nihilistic tone and implicit condemnation of the audience make it seem suited to the genre. | |
| Funny Games / int_8d0e21d2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_8d0e21d2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_8d0e21d2 | |
| Funny Games / int_916c72b3 | type |
Rule of Symbolism | |
| Funny Games / int_916c72b3 | comment |
Rule of Symbolism: It's hinted that Paul didn't need to use the remote control to rewind time since the remote control in question is completely normal and doesn't even belong to him in the first place (it belongs to the Farbers in fact). However, the use of the remote to manipulate the movie is appropriate as it accentuates the movie's artificiality and postmodern themes, i.e., it is a work of fiction designed by the storytellers to exploit the audience's expectations and emotions. | |
| Funny Games / int_916c72b3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_916c72b3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_916c72b3 | |
| Funny Games / int_96362a61 | type |
Torture Porn | |
| Funny Games / int_96362a61 | comment |
A tagline for the remake was "You must admit, you brought this on yourself." While this functions as a message from Paul and Peter to the family they terrorize, it can also be interpreted as a sardonic message to the American audiences the remake was released to, as they had contributed in making films that gleefully depict the sadistic torture of innocents into the horror craze of the time, and as such were "due" for a film that works deliberately to not give such an audience what they want. | |
| Funny Games / int_96362a61 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_96362a61 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_96362a61 | |
| Funny Games / int_97926168 | type |
Rewatch Bonus | |
| Funny Games / int_97926168 | comment |
Rewatch Bonus: Upon rewatch, one can put two and two together on what happened to the protagonists' neighbors, the Thompsons, offscreen. In their first scene, the Thompsons seem strangely passive for victims of two psychopaths since they don't even try to seek help from the Farbers. However, Georgie immediately remarks that the Thompsons' daughter Jenny is missing, which suggests that Paul and Peter have Jenny locked up somewhere to discourage the Thompsons from fighting back. Indeed, Ann later finds herself unable to ask her other neighbors for help because Peter is holding her husband and son hostage. Likewise, when Fred arrives with Paul to help George and Georgie with the boat, he doesn't communicate to the Farbers that he needs their help. Since Peter appears a short while after, it is implied that Peter stayed back with Fred's wife and daughter to keep Fred in line and to guarantee Fred's word that he will help the duo infiltrate the Farbers' home. It becomes more tragic when one realizes that Paul and Peter had no intent of keeping their promise as Fred disappears after helping the Farbers with the boat, indicating that he was Killed Offscreen by Paul, and Georgie subsequently finds Jenny's corpse in the Thompsons' house, meaning that Peter killed the other Thompsons after Paul and Fred left for the Farbers' home. As such, Paul lazily jogs after Georgie when he spots him near the Thompsons' house because he knows that there is no one there that can help Georgie. The Reveal that Paul is a Reality Warper changes the context of certain scenes. Paul starts making eye-contact with the audience during the "Hot and Cold" game, but this isn't the earliest time he breaks the fourth wall as Paul afterwards demonstrates that he can change the soundtrack to John Zorn's "Bonehead" and "Hellraiser" any time he wishes. Thus, the first fourth-wall break occurs during the intro when Paul plays the song "Bonehead" and mutes the protagonists' classical music. Paul's conversations with the audience appear to be Acceptable Breaks from Reality at first because while immersion-breaking, they don't affect the plot, and none of the other characters acknowledge the conversations, which makes it easy to ignore the aforementioned fourth-wall breaks. However, in hindsight, they are reminiscent of Paul's time-rewind at the climax as Paul basically pauses the movie every moment he talks to the watchers. After Georgie escapes the house, he gets a good head start mainly because Paul wastes time looking for him upstairs, yet when Georgie reaches the Thompsons' home, it turns out that Paul isn't too far away. On a first watch, this may just be a Contrived Coincidence to set up the chase scene in the house, but on repeat viewings, it is justified by the fact that Paul controls the movie, which includes the camera that he acknowledges and positions to better address the audience, so Paul already knows to where exactly Georgie is running. Same goes for the part where Paul gets a rifle pointed at him. Paul didn't merely guess that Georgie's gun was empty, he knew that Georgie didn't load the gun. Like most movies, Funny Games relies on jump cuts to skip trivial events, but Paul's line about the movie's running time indicates that he is the one fast-forwarding through the movie. | |
| Funny Games / int_97926168 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_97926168 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_97926168 | |
| Funny Games / int_9d12bbc1 | type |
Foreshadowing | |
| Funny Games / int_9d12bbc1 | comment |
Foreshadowing: Peter points out that Paul's bet doesn't work because the family would lose either way. Georgie's death not only averts Improbable Infant Survival, but it also means that Anyone Can Die. | |
| Funny Games / int_9d12bbc1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_9d12bbc1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_9d12bbc1 | |
| Funny Games / int_a18042f1 | type |
Left the Background Music On | |
| Funny Games / int_a18042f1 | comment |
Left the Background Music On: Played with. The film begin with a helicopter shot of a car driving through a country road set to classical music. Then, voice-overs of the family in the car begin discussing the music, revealing that it's playing from the car stereo. A Double Subversion soon occurs after Paul's death metal leitmotif "Bonehead" comes on to announce the Opening Credits as the family continues to casually talk over the metal music, indicating they don't hear it. Later, it becomes a Triple Subversion when Paul plays said metal music on a CD player to increase the intensity of the chase sequence. Paul also exploits this to get the drop on Georgie as the diegetic music masks his footsteps. | |
| Funny Games / int_a18042f1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_a18042f1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_a18042f1 | |
| Funny Games / int_a4905771 | type |
Double-Meaning Title | |
| Funny Games / int_a4905771 | comment |
Double-Meaning Title: Pete and Paul amuse themselves by playing "funny games" with their victims. In addition, Paul plays a game with the viewers by asking them whom they are betting on. | |
| Funny Games / int_a4905771 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_a4905771 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_a4905771 | |
| Funny Games / int_a4916876 | type |
Blown Across the Room | |
| Funny Games / int_a4916876 | comment |
Blown Across the Room: This happens to Peter when he is shot by Ann with the rifle. | |
| Funny Games / int_a4916876 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_a4916876 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_a4916876 | |
| Funny Games / int_a62dca03 | type |
Year Inside, Hour Outside | |
| Funny Games / int_a62dca03 | comment |
Year Inside, Hour Outside: There is a meta variant in regards to Plot Time. The story spans at least twelve hours in-universe, but for the spectators and Paul, the movie is about two hours long. | |
| Funny Games / int_a62dca03 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_a62dca03 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_a62dca03 | |
| Funny Games / int_abad35b4 | type |
Soundtrack Dissonance | |
| Funny Games / int_abad35b4 | comment |
Soundtrack Dissonance: The movie starts with a happy family driving through a beautiful country road and listening to opera. When the credits begin, the soundtrack suddenly switches to a shockingly discordant and abrasive song with grinding guitars, piercing trumpets, and meaningless screeching. | |
| Funny Games / int_abad35b4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_abad35b4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_abad35b4 | |
| Funny Games / int_ad4c74ed | type |
Final Girl | |
| Funny Games / int_ad4c74ed | comment |
The whole point of subverting the Final Girl was to trick the audience into falling for an old horror cliché: "the final female survivor kills the villains." The movie initially sets up the knife dropped by George and Georgie Jr. as a convenient Chekhov's Gun for Ann, only to disregard it as a useless Red Herring by the end. The knife's real purpose was to keep the viewers hopeful for a Surprisingly Happy Ending even though Paul just demonstrated that the Farbers have no shot at winning. | |
| Funny Games / int_ad4c74ed | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_ad4c74ed | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_ad4c74ed | |
| Funny Games / int_af05e6d0 | type |
The Treachery of Images | |
| Funny Games / int_af05e6d0 | comment |
The Treachery of Images: This is discussed by Paul and Peter before Paul deconstructs the concept. At one point, Peter talks about a movie in which a man is trapped in a fictional universe and needs to communicate with the real universe to warn his family of an incoming danger. Paul then questions this plot point as Peter's movie is ultimately fiction, so logically, the "real" universe is not any more genuine than the "fictional" universe. To persuade Peter, Paul then proceeds to argue that fiction is real because it can be observed just like any real object. | |
| Funny Games / int_af05e6d0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_af05e6d0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_af05e6d0 | |
| Funny Games / int_b1b48ad1 | type |
Foreign Language Title | |
| Funny Games / int_b1b48ad1 | comment |
Foreign Language Title: The Austrian film's title is Funny Games, in English. | |
| Funny Games / int_b1b48ad1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_b1b48ad1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_b1b48ad1 | |
| Funny Games / int_b2af79fb | type |
Leave the Camera Running | |
| Funny Games / int_b2af79fb | comment |
Leave the Camera Running: The film is full of scenes like this, most notably immediately after Paul and Peter kill Georgie. | |
| Funny Games / int_b2af79fb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_b2af79fb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_b2af79fb | |
| Funny Games / int_b6e1d40b | type |
Acceptable Breaks from Reality | |
| Funny Games / int_b6e1d40b | comment |
Paul's conversations with the audience appear to be Acceptable Breaks from Reality at first because while immersion-breaking, they don't affect the plot, and none of the other characters acknowledge the conversations, which makes it easy to ignore the aforementioned fourth-wall breaks. However, in hindsight, they are reminiscent of Paul's time-rewind at the climax as Paul basically pauses the movie every moment he talks to the watchers. | |
| Funny Games / int_b6e1d40b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_b6e1d40b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_b6e1d40b | |
| Funny Games / int_babc974 | type |
Sadistic Choice | |
| Funny Games / int_babc974 | comment |
Sadistic Choice: The husband is forced to decide between the wife taking off her clothes or Paul inflicting pain on the son. The wife is forced to decide if the villains kill her husband quickly by gunshot or slowly by knife, which is also a Morton's Fork. | |
| Funny Games / int_babc974 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_babc974 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_babc974 | |
| Funny Games / int_bc103f8b | type |
Subverted | |
| Funny Games / int_bc103f8b | comment |
Subverted in the case of the knife in the sailboat. Early on, George and Georgie Jr. accidentally leave a knife aboard the boat. Later, Ann uses said knife to cut her bonds, but Paul and Peter quickly confiscate it. | |
| Funny Games / int_bc103f8b | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
| Funny Games / int_bc103f8b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_bc103f8b | |
| Funny Games / int_bce16d24 | type |
Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? | |
| Funny Games / int_bce16d24 | comment |
Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: When Ann asks Peter why he and Paul don't just kill the Farbers, Peter simply answers that it is more fun for the two of them to torture the family. As for Paul, he is well aware of the Doylist reason for keeping the family alive: to maintain the audience's investment in the story. | |
| Funny Games / int_bce16d24 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_bce16d24 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_bce16d24 | |
| Funny Games / int_be30e493 | type |
Undignified Death | |
| Funny Games / int_be30e493 | comment |
Undignified Death: The ultimate humiliation for the mother is how she dies. Her son gets shot and her husband gets stabbed, but she gets bound and gagged and taken for a boat ride. After Peter and Paul have been sailing for some time with her sitting between them, they just shove her off the back of the boat and sail on without looking back. | |
| Funny Games / int_be30e493 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_be30e493 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_be30e493 | |
| Funny Games / int_c04b1231 | type |
Jump Scare | |
| Funny Games / int_c04b1231 | comment |
Jump Scare: The movie begins with the family playing a game that involves listening to classical music. Shortly before the title credits begin appearing, the movie suddenly starts to play obnoxiously loud metal music. | |
| Funny Games / int_c04b1231 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_c04b1231 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_c04b1231 | |
| Funny Games / int_c3c18143 | type |
Hope Spot | |
| Funny Games / int_c3c18143 | comment |
Hope Spot: The entire movie is filled with situations where the viewer feels hopeful for the victims like something would turn in their favor, and each time that door is slammed shut. First, the family's friends visit the family in a boat but bummer, an old man and his two female partners pose no threat to the villains. While Paul goes outside to chase Georgie, George and Ann try to persuade Peter, Paul's lackey, to let them go. None of their pleading affects Peter. The son gets hold of a rifle and shoots at Paul. Too bad it wasn't loaded. The killers suddenly leave, giving the husband and wife some glimmer of hope that they'll survive. Paul later lampshades that this was necessary for traditional plot structure. The cellphone comes back to life, giving the survivors hope of rescue. But no, the Distress Call amounts to nothing. The wife manages to grab the killers' gun and shoot one of them. It looks like the other killer loses his mind when he tries to undo the event with a remote control, but it actually works. The scene rewinds and this time the killers hang onto the gun. When the wife is tied up in the boat and they are about to push her into the lake, she spots the knife her son had left there earlier. However, one of the killers notices it too and grabs it before she has a chance to cut herself loose. | |
| Funny Games / int_c3c18143 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_c3c18143 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_c3c18143 | |
| Funny Games / int_c660bc15 | type |
Fan Disservice | |
| Funny Games / int_c660bc15 | comment |
Fan Disservice: Seeing Naomi Watts in bra and panties is usually a good view for the male audience. But while she's tied up to be tortured? Maybe not so much. | |
| Funny Games / int_c660bc15 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_c660bc15 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_c660bc15 | |
| Funny Games / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
| Funny Games / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: A bourgeois family is assaulted in their home by villains in white outfits. Paul and Peter refer to themselves as Tom and Jerry and Beavis and Butt-Head at select points. In the remake, Paul says "As they say on TV, let's make a deal" when pitching the idea of his game to the family. | |
| Funny Games / int_c75df49a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_c75df49a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_c75df49a | |
| Funny Games / int_c868a42a | type |
Freudian Excuse | |
| Funny Games / int_c868a42a | comment |
The entire movie is a commentary on abuse as entertainment in general and the deconstruction lies in that it shows this abuse without glorification, without any emotional or moral justifications and without giving the audience the comfort of the dehumanizing effects of gorn and Nausea Fuel. The killers as Audience Surrogates are continually disappointed when the family does the more common sense action rather than ratcheting up the tension, and the real violence is only heard not seen. Likewise, when the killers threaten the mother into undressing, the camera focuses on her face rather than her nudity. | |
| Funny Games / int_c868a42a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_c868a42a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_c868a42a | |
| Funny Games / int_cdfe12c3 | type |
Nothing Is Scarier | |
| Funny Games / int_cdfe12c3 | comment |
Nothing Is Scarier: The movie shares scant details about the Thompsons' ordeal under Paul and Peter, but the few things shown, such as the tent in the front yard and Fred's offhand remark that the duo arrived yesterday, imply that the Thompsons suffered for at least a day. When Paul catches up with Georgie during the latter's escape attempt, Georgie ducks into the neighbor's house, leading to a tense cat-and-mouse game where Georgie has to outmaneuver Paul in a dark, silent environment while taking care not to set off the house's motion-sensor lights that will give away his position. After Georgie dies, Paul and Peter unexpectedly withdraw from the house, leaving the family alone. Given the killers' prior mind-games, the movie plays on the audience's fear that the killers are still lurking around, waiting to make their return. | |
| Funny Games / int_cdfe12c3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games / int_cdfe12c3 | featureConfidence |
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Funny Games / int_cdfe12c3 | |
| Funny Games / int_d17eaa9f | type |
Postmodernism | |
| Funny Games / int_d17eaa9f | comment |
Postmodernism: The film blurs the lines between reality and fiction. At first, the film's plot plays out like a normal home invasion story. However, once Paul starts speaking to the audience, the movie shifts to a more self-referential tone and starts focusing on the meta-narrative of the audience's voyeurism. That said, the home-invasion plot is still an integral part of the story as movie switches between both narratives to display how the two plots are dependent on each other. After all, the movie doesn't exist without a target audience in mind, and the audience won't watch a movie unless they were intrigued by said movie's advertised premise. In addition, the villains discuss The Treachery of Images when it come to reality and fiction. | |
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| Funny Games | hasFeature |
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| Funny Games / int_d49ce4f8 | type |
Protect This House | |
| Funny Games / int_d49ce4f8 | comment |
The movie also deconstructs the standard home-invasion plot in several ways. For one, the invaders get into the home through social engineering rather than brute force. The Farbers initially fall for the deception because Paul and Peter follow social norms at first and apologize for their more questionable behavior. By the time the Farbers figure out Paul and Peter's true intentions, it's too late. The protagonists of home-invasion stories usually have some kind of Home Field Advantage over the invaders, but there is no such luck here. The Farbers' home does have plenty of security, such as a gate with an electronic lock, and thus will be easy to fortify, but the Farbers never have the prep time to weaponize the house against Paul and Peter. For extra irony, the house's locked gate ends up impeding the family's escape attempts and helping the villains recapture the Farbers. On a similar note, when Georgie reaches the neighbor's house for refuge, the surveillance lights turn on, exposing his location to Paul. | |
| Funny Games / int_d49ce4f8 | featureApplicability |
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| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_d49ce4f8 | |
| Funny Games / int_d4cc3a71 | type |
Audience? What Audience? | |
| Funny Games / int_d4cc3a71 | comment |
Audience? What Audience?: Averted. While Paul occasionally speaks to the audience while within earshot of the other characters, no one else ever acknowledges it. | |
| Funny Games / int_d4cc3a71 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
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| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_d4cc3a71 | |
| Funny Games / int_d5139ac | type |
Reality Has No Soundtrack | |
| Funny Games / int_d5139ac | comment |
Reality Has No Soundtrack: The lack of scare sounds is just one more convention of the horror genre that Haneke breaks with. Heavy metal is played in-universe at one point to heighten the tension. | |
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| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_d5139ac | |
| Funny Games / int_dbca2c99 | type |
Red Herring | |
| Funny Games / int_dbca2c99 | comment |
Red Herring: The knife on the boat ends up being one as it does nothing to help Ann. The Farbers' neighbors make their first appearance after Paul and Peter hold the Farbers hostage with the neighbors agreeing to Ann's proposal that the Farbers will visit them later. Conservation of Detail suggests that they will play a role in helping the Farbers escape, but they don't appear again until the very end of the film when Paul and Peter have already killed off the Farbers. Peter is constantly berated by Paul, which leads to arguments between the two. The film seemingly sets up for Peter attacking Paul out of frustration, but it never occurs. | |
| Funny Games / int_dbca2c99 | featureApplicability |
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| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_dbca2c99 | |
| Funny Games / int_dc579c91 | type |
Contrived Coincidence | |
| Funny Games / int_dc579c91 | comment |
After Georgie escapes the house, he gets a good head start mainly because Paul wastes time looking for him upstairs, yet when Georgie reaches the Thompsons' home, it turns out that Paul isn't too far away. On a first watch, this may just be a Contrived Coincidence to set up the chase scene in the house, but on repeat viewings, it is justified by the fact that Paul controls the movie, which includes the camera that he acknowledges and positions to better address the audience, so Paul already knows to where exactly Georgie is running. Same goes for the part where Paul gets a rifle pointed at him. Paul didn't merely guess that Georgie's gun was empty, he knew that Georgie didn't load the gun. | |
| Funny Games / int_dc579c91 | featureApplicability |
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| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_dc579c91 | |
| Funny Games / int_dd91f8d8 | type |
Audience Participation | |
| Funny Games / int_dd91f8d8 | comment |
Audience Participation: When Paul makes his mortal bet with the family that they won't last until sunrise, he turns to the camera and suggests that the audience play along, then comments that you're probably siding with the family. | |
| Funny Games / int_dd91f8d8 | featureApplicability |
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1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_dd91f8d8 | |
| Funny Games / int_dfbe4aa9 | type |
Fourth Wall | |
| Funny Games / int_dfbe4aa9 | comment |
While Peter isn't aware of the Fourth Wall like Paul is, he makes comments that make sense both from an In-Universe perspective and a meta perspective. | |
| Funny Games / int_dfbe4aa9 | featureApplicability |
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| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_dfbe4aa9 | |
| Funny Games / int_dfe687c9 | type |
Alone with the Psycho | |
| Funny Games / int_dfe687c9 | comment |
Alone with the Psycho: The family is terrorized by two psychopaths who invade their home. | |
| Funny Games / int_dfe687c9 | featureApplicability |
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| Funny Games / int_dfe687c9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_dfe687c9 | |
| Funny Games / int_e5fd8bc2 | type |
Hate Sink | |
| Funny Games / int_e5fd8bc2 | comment |
Hate Sink: Peter and Paul have no redeeming qualities and are Flat Characters whose only desire is to kill people For the Evulz. | |
| Funny Games / int_e5fd8bc2 | featureApplicability |
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Funny Games / int_e5fd8bc2 | |
| Funny Games / int_e6ab61d | type |
Magic Realism | |
| Funny Games / int_e6ab61d | comment |
Magic Realism: As per Haneke's usual direction, the movie is mostly grounded in reality, downplaying the flashiness and excitement of a traditional Hollywood thriller in favor of emphasizing the natural consequences of a home invasion. The only extraordinary element is Paul's fourth-wall breaking, but even then, none of the other characters ever notice or comment on it. | |
| Funny Games / int_e6ab61d | featureApplicability |
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| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_e6ab61d | |
| Funny Games / int_e7e558 | type |
The Oner | |
| Funny Games / int_e7e558 | comment |
The Oner: Shortly after the gun goes off, there is a ten-minute long take in which the surviving protagonists slowly cut their binds and try to recuperate from the physical and psychological trauma inflicted on them. | |
| Funny Games / int_e7e558 | featureApplicability |
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| Funny Games / int_e7e558 | featureConfidence |
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| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_e7e558 | |
| Funny Games / int_e8e3807 | type |
Aside Glance | |
| Funny Games / int_e8e3807 | comment |
Paul starts making eye-contact with the audience during the "Hot and Cold" game, but this isn't the earliest time he breaks the fourth wall as Paul afterwards demonstrates that he can change the soundtrack to John Zorn's "Bonehead" and "Hellraiser" any time he wishes. Thus, the first fourth-wall break occurs during the intro when Paul plays the song "Bonehead" and mutes the protagonists' classical music. | |
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1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_e8e3807 | |
| Funny Games / int_eae4abcd | type |
Rewind Gag | |
| Funny Games / int_eae4abcd | comment |
Rewind Gag: Paul uses a remote control at one point to rewind the scene like a videotape when things didn't turn out the way they planned. | |
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| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_eae4abcd | |
| Funny Games / int_ed4275d1 | type |
Universal Remote Control | |
| Funny Games / int_ed4275d1 | comment |
Universal Remote Control: Invoked. While Paul does use a remote control to rewind the movie, said remote control is actually normal since it originally belonged to the Farbers and Peter used it earlier to watch TV. | |
| Funny Games / int_ed4275d1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
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1.0 | |
| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_ed4275d1 | |
| Funny Games / int_f0089082 | type |
Early-Bird Cameo | |
| Funny Games / int_f0089082 | comment |
Early-Bird Cameo: The Farbers' friends, who ride a sailboat to visit them, become Paul and Peter's next set of victims. | |
| Funny Games / int_f0089082 | featureApplicability |
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| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_f0089082 | |
| Funny Games / int_f0e85546 | type |
Unbuilt Trope | |
| Funny Games / int_f0e85546 | comment |
Unbuilt Trope: This 1997 Austrian thriller is a critique of violent media and goes out of its way to portray violence as disturbing. Notably, the movie keeps most of the gore and violence offscreen and focuses more on the victims' psychological trauma from said violence. At one point, Paul even breaks the fourth wall to ask the audience if they are satisfied with the torment inflicted on the family. The 2007 American version is a Shot-for-Shot Remake with minor differences from the 1997 original, but it had a new genre to deconstruct in the mid-2000s when Torture Porn movies were the new zeitgeist in the horror genre. | |
| Funny Games / int_f0e85546 | featureApplicability |
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Funny Games / int_f0e85546 | |
| Funny Games / int_f25ab7c5 | type |
Shot-for-Shot Remake | |
| Funny Games / int_f25ab7c5 | comment |
Shot-for-Shot Remake: The American remake, by the same director, is almost exactly the same, but English-speaking actors are used instead of German and Austrian actors. | |
| Funny Games / int_f25ab7c5 | featureApplicability |
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| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_f25ab7c5 | |
| Funny Games / int_f378204c | type |
FourthWallBreaking | |
| Funny Games / int_f378204c | comment |
The idea behind Paul's Fourth Wall Breaking is to deconstruct the audience's role in storytelling by pointing out how the stories in question manipulate the audience's Willing Suspension of Disbelief to entertain them. For example, Paul's bet with the audience and subsequent guess that the audience is on the family's side apply to every story with conflict: a first-time viewer will not know the outcome and will usually root for the more sympathetic protagonists to prevail. Paul's remote control rewind is the most blatant case of this as it undoes Ann's victory and confirms that Paul's bet with the Farbers was rigged to always end with Peter and him winning just as every story is rigged to end in a certain way depending on the writers' whims. | |
| Funny Games / int_f378204c | featureApplicability |
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| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_f378204c | |
| Funny Games / int_f642b1f9 | type |
You Bastard! | |
| Funny Games / int_f642b1f9 | comment |
You Bastard!: Played with, Paul never condemns the audience for watching the film, but he does acknowledge that everything he does is for the viewers' entertainment. In particular, the Farbers beg for a quick death rather than a slow, drawn-out torture, but Paul continues to torment them because he knows that killing the protagonists immediately will result in an Anti-Climax, displeasing the audience in the process. | |
| Funny Games / int_f642b1f9 | featureApplicability |
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| Funny Games | hasFeature |
Funny Games / int_f642b1f9 | |
| Funny Games / int_fb3576b2 | type |
The Dog Bites Back | |
| Funny Games / int_fb3576b2 | comment |
Peter is constantly berated by Paul, which leads to arguments between the two. The film seemingly sets up for Peter attacking Paul out of frustration, but it never occurs. | |
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| Funny Games / int_name | itemName |
Funny Games |
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