The Haneke Thread: It was always going to happen...

Eviltoastman · Post by **Eviltoastman** » 12 Sep 2006, 01:38

http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/1120303/ ... oduct.html

Wooo-hooo!

Proper copy, not some ropy thing I taped off TV!

The Seventh Continent (1989): Described by Haneke as a reflection on "the progressive emotional glaciation of Austria," The Seventh Continent focuses on George (Dieter Berner), a middling engineer, and his sardonic wife Anna (Birgit Doll). Unable to empathize with their daughter's compulsion for lying and uninterested in each other's emotional well-being, the couple turns their pedestrian way of life into a vortex of subjective malaise. And while a recurring ad for an Australian vacation stands as a signal of potential blissfulness, the couple's perfunctory melancholy eventually materialized into barbarism.

Based on a true story, and filmed as a succession of beautifully composed and yet mundane tableaux, this unsentimental depiction of individual and family collapse "ranks among the most truly terrifying in modern cinema" (Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune). More than a metaphor of hope and escape, The Seventh Continent is a meticulous dive into the postmodern disregard of affect - and a stark look at lives severed from feelings.

Benny's Video (1993): Winner of the FIPRESCI award given by the International Federation of Film Critics in 1993, Benny's Video is the second installment of Michael Haneke's (The Piano Teacher, Cache) "emotional glaciation" trilogy.

Written and directed by Haneke, the bone-chilling story opens with the amateur footage of a pig being slaughtered with a butcher gun. This unceremonious recording is owned by 14-year-old Benny (Arno Frisch; Haneke's Funny Gamers), a boy whose preferred mediums of experience are video cameras, action movies, and the surveillance monitors placed in his room.

Accustomed to a trite routine of school activities, daily visits to a local video store, and hours in front of his bedroom TV, Benny finds himself enthralled by his tape of a slaughtered swing. Staying alone is his parents' apartment, Benny eventually brings home an unknown girl, immediately exposing her to the rapturous videotaping. Then, after revealing that he stole the gun that took the pig's life, Benny coldly shoots his guest and turns his unwrought curiosity into a slaughter video franchise. "I once saw a TV program about the tricks they use in action films," says Benny. "It's all ketchup and plastic."

By colliding the differences between frames and flesh Haneke's sophomore theatrical release offers a lucid depiction of human beings deprived of their capacity to empathize with - and be hurt by - others.

71 Fragments Of A Chronology Of Chance (1994): With his signature cold, cerebral style, his long slow takes, and meticulous action, Austrian director Michael Haneke presents a series of isolated scenes of unrelated people that culminates in an act of sudden and senseless violence in a bank. 71 Fragments Of A Chronology Of Chance delves into some of the prevalent themes of Haneke's earlier films The Seventh Continent and Benny's Video: existential isolation, the oppressive force of contemporary western civilization, the effects of television on human experience, and sudden inscrutable violence. Similar to Antonioni, Haneke has become one of the contemporary cinema's greatest provocateurs, deliberately withholding crucial information and denying any audience expectation. The eerie and beautiful 71 Fragments Of A Chronology Of Chance hovers between a terrible nihilism and a tenuous humanism.

judasmuppet · Post by **judasmuppet** » 12 Sep 2006, 03:48

That's a sweet little package.

http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/1120184/ ... oduct.html

This one isn't bad either as deals go.

Eviltoastman · Post by **Eviltoastman** » 12 Sep 2006, 13:25

Awesome...but my copy of Hidden has this synopsis on the back. Best synopsis ever:

The best thriller film from French that makes you paranoia. When Georges, (Daniel Autueil) a TV host received a package of videos that the footage on tapes was telling about his personal life. He didn't know who sending it and what purpose it is? But, he thought the sender was someone nearby him. He wanted to reveal thetruth, otherwise he may becomes crazy.

I am loathe to replace it.

judasmuppet · Post by **judasmuppet** » 12 Sep 2006, 19:31

YOu probably shouldn't tell me your address, 'cause I'll nick it.

Roark · Post by **Roark** » 12 Sep 2006, 19:32

He'll nick anything. He's a geezer.

judasmuppet · Post by **judasmuppet** » 12 Sep 2006, 19:41

Roark still hasn't told me his new address. That should tell you something.

judasmuppet · Post by **judasmuppet** » 30 May 2007, 10:27

Just saw the Seventh Continent.

O.M.F.G.

that is probably one of my favourite films ever, even if it was a touch overindulgent stylistically.

Redundant Retard · Post by **Redundant Retard** » 30 May 2007, 13:31

Haneke

Eviltoastman · Post by **Eviltoastman** » 30 May 2007, 14:22

I felt the same way. Over indulgent, but I am also allowed my indulgences and that's definitely one of mine.

Thunder Beer · Post by **Thunder Beer** » 30 May 2007, 16:40

I bought a nice edition of Benny's Video, a couple of weeks ago.

Thunder Beer · Post by **Thunder Beer** » 30 May 2007, 16:52

...on DVD.

judasmuppet · Post by **judasmuppet** » 31 May 2007, 07:59

I didn't like Benny's Video. I think it's well-done, but of the Haneke films that I've seen I find it to be the most obviously shocking-but-pointless of the lot. It didn't give me anything.

Thunder Beer · Post by **Thunder Beer** » 31 May 2007, 15:17

I like it. Its not up there with Funny Games or Caché, but still pretty good.
Funny Games is my favorite of his. When I saw it for the first time, I didnt know anything about the director or the film. I had no expectations, and it turned out great. I love it when that happens

Eviltoastman · Post by **Eviltoastman** » 31 May 2007, 16:00

This is what happened with Seventh Continent and me. It had a profound impact upon me.

ReverseEngineer · Post by **ReverseEngineer** » 02 Jun 2007, 10:48

I haven't seen his other stuff, but that last shot in Caché is mindblowing.

judasmuppet · Post by **judasmuppet** » 14 Jul 2007, 08:57

http://onlymagazine.ca/Film/916/judgmen ... y-austrian

judasmuppet · Post by **judasmuppet** » 29 Jul 2007, 15:00

71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance was good.

I don't think I'll ever forget the ping pong scene for as long as I live.

Eviltoastman · Post by **Eviltoastman** » 17 Feb 2008, 02:24

Yes...but was it better than the Ping Pong scene in South park the Movie?

judasmuppet · Post by **judasmuppet** » 12 Mar 2008, 02:29

HAHAHA http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808279/

Thunder Bear · Post by **Thunder Bear** » 13 Mar 2008, 09:05

Eviltoastman";p="940595 wrote:Yes...but was it better than the Ping Pong scene in South park the Movie?

Hehe that scene and the dildo scene with Saddam and Satan are the only ones I remember from that movie.

Thunder Bear · Post by **Thunder Bear** » 13 Mar 2008, 09:09

judasmuppet";p="945679 wrote:HAHAHA http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808279/

I dont see the point of this remake, but I will check it out as soon as it hits the cinemas.

ReverseEngineer · Post by **ReverseEngineer** » 13 Mar 2008, 16:57

Thunder Bear";p="945959 wrote:
judasmuppet";p="945679 wrote:HAHAHA http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808279/
I dont see the point of this remake

Naomi Watts + Tim Roth + Haneke supergroup of course.

Thunder Bear · Post by **Thunder Bear** » 26 Apr 2008, 11:55

Saw it yesterday, and it was good I guess. I mean since its identical with the original and all. I prefer the original though, because at the time, I knew nothing about the content. It was more "in your face".

joey5001 · Post by **joey5001** » 26 Apr 2008, 14:12

Any film with Naomi Watts is worth watching.

Thus justifying a remake.

Thunder Bear · Post by **Thunder Bear** » 26 Apr 2008, 15:16

You know, Im not so sure about that. After watching Funny Games, my long time theory about her acting was confirmed. She is not believable while acting "normal", if you know what I mean. She is distanced and shallow, like she was in the beginning of Mulholland Drive. I always thought that this was intentionally, and it probably is. But she is ALWAYS like that. Its soap opera/theatre acting. She is unnatural.
However she is absolutley amazing when she is portraying angry, depressed, abused, sad etc characters. 21 Grams is her best work.