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COMMON GROUNDS
34 THE LIST 22 Oct—S Nov 1998
l
Funny Games (18) 103 mins are k e s
A wealthy family - mother, father, little boy and their dog — plan to spend a relaxmg weekend in the country. Their holiday is interrupted, however, by the appearance of two intelligent, handsome young men who SllbjE’Ci them to an increasingly horrifit series of ’games’, beginning With humiliation and ending in torture and murder
The hor'm-thriiler set up seems faritiliai, but Funny Games is one the most ir‘ir‘irivt‘rtiqe anrl shrieking films to reach Made way back :i: 1996 l‘.ll(.li£]€'l Haneke’s expert - liizt not explicit — ir‘.terrotliation of voyeurism and Violent Cinema is only Just reteiw'ir; Its UK release. Speculation about problems With certification at the British Board of Film
WU" Crreeiis this decade
In the bag: Arno Frisch and Stefan Clapczynski in Funny Games
Classification might account for the long gestation period, but the fact is there is nothing to cut — no blood, no carnage, no on-screen gore. Every hideously perverted act takes place in the viewer's mind, albeit carefully orchestrated by Haneke.
Funny Games systematically breaks social and cinematic taboos, not least of which is a refusal to attribute a logical explanation to the games/crimes. Instead, the shell- shocked viewer is forced to re-evaluate their attitude to what’s seen on screen. As Haneke said, ’It isn’t supposed to be a film you like. What I hope is that the audience find it disturbing.’ Chilling, calculated, cerebral, brilliant.
(Miles Fielder)
I Glasgow Film Theatre and Edinburgh Filmhouse from Fri 30 Oct. See preview
The Decline Of Western
Civilisation Part III (18) 85 minss; tit-- wt
After Hours — Lou Reed
'Rock 'n' Roll Heart'
(15) 76 mins s 2*
Punk never (lied, it Just ran away from 7i dysfunctional home and went to live in LA Net irtuth of a life, but better than being beaten, abused and written off The third instalment in the Decline Of l"./t_*strtri'i Citri',’if;ation series of docu- rli'ariias, begun by directh Penelope Sphewi, in 1979, examines what makes these kids adhere to a sub- i iil'iirr; that :s as lllU(.ll about triervlship and support as it is safety pins and :i-Jegtxir‘. ()i a society which 'l’ll be dead in ‘ive years t'rne,’ rlrtzlaies one '-’;iitter‘--piink' I~.':i the it; boast, as the late (if two of the partitzpants proves An affettinr;
., my ted them
Waiting for the man: Lou Reed 'Rock ’n' Roll Heart'
and affectionate film.
The Velvet Underground could be cited as a proto-punk band, reekers of sonic havoc who adhered to a firm ’we hate hippies” attitude. That. Lou Reed has since been feted as a great artist and the VU have been inaugurated into the Rock 'n' Hall of Fame shows that every underdog must have his day. Rock ’n’ Roll Heart hears from the likes of Patti Smith, and Davids Bowie and Byrne, between clips of Reed throughout his career. A rounder view than the Grumpy Old Lou caricature favoured by hacks since the days of 70s scribbler Lester Bangs.
(Rodger Evans) m Glasgow: Gilmorehi/l Theatre, Sat 24 Oct/Nice ’ri' Sleazy, Sun 25 Oct.
STAR RATINGS t s a x * Unmissable 1" a at it Very good at 2* * Worth a shot at k Below average it You've been warned