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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 03:14 pm:   

...I settled down and watched 3 DVD's out of my collection instead.

Tideland - Excellent film, bleak as hell and a nomination for best horror of the decade IMHO - even though Terry Gilliam thinks it's a comedy of sorts. I loved it.

71 Fragments of a chronology of chance - or whatever it's called. I was a bit disappointed that this was a much more straightforward narrative than the title and sleevenotes suggested. Still a good film with Haneke's usual not bothering to explain key plot points adding to the overall effect.

Benny's Video - Probably my favourite of the three films I watched last night. Quite how Haneke makes the murders in his films so disturbing I'm not sure. The sight of the body being dragged was more shocking than any number of dismemberments or general amputations in the Saw or Hostel franchises. As a haneke fan Zed I'd be interested in your views on this one.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 03:24 pm:   

Benny's Video actually made me feel uncomfortable. It's my least favourite Haneke film, I think, because of this. It's masterful, of course, but the desired effect works almost too well...and I felt dirty for watching it.

One of those films I'll only ever watch once, and admire rather than like.
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Zed (Gary_mc)
Username: Gary_mc

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.96.240.106
Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 03:27 pm:   

Tideland is superb, isn't it?
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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 03:54 pm:   

Do you think there's any significance to the fact that Arno Frisch (benny) pops up again in Funny Games - which could be seen as almost a companion piece with regards to the various themes - as one of the two youths, or is it just that Haneke likes him as an actor?
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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 04:10 pm:   

The pig being slaughtered was rather disturbing - then to put you straight into Benny's head by rewinding and watching again in slow motion was rather too effective. I know what you mean about making you feel dirty watching it. But I love that a medium as commonly abused as film (by talentless hacks naming no names cough michael bay cough)can still have that power on me - to actually make me question myself. I can't think of another filmmaker who can do that to me (especially not on a regular basis0
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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 04:10 pm:   

Tideland was indeed superb. The squirrel told me to say that...
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Chris_morris (Chris_morris)
Username: Chris_morris

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 12.165.240.116
Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 04:13 pm:   

I think Haneke just likes him. He has cast Susanne Lothar (from Funny Games and The White Ribbon) twice as well. (He'd also cast Ulrich Mühe, her Funny Games co-star, in The Castle, and he'd cast him The White Ribbon as well, just before the actor suddenly died.) And of course he's worked with Isabelle Huppert and Juliette Binoche twice, too. I think Haneke just likes certain actors.

I'd agree, by the way, with your general assessments above, Weber. Benny's Video is great but hard to watch.

How does he make the murders so disturbing? Here's my guess: he avoids the use of music; he uses muted colors in his sets (usually grays); he includes scenes of characters performing actions unrelated (or seemingly unrelated) to the plot (to add realism); he avoids sensationalizing the violence (again, to add realism). Real violence, of course, is shockingly banal, and the more "realistic" the violence in a film is, the more impact it will have on the viewer. That's my two cents, anyway.
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Chris_morris (Chris_morris)
Username: Chris_morris

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 12.165.240.116
Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 04:14 pm:   

I think Haneke just likes him. I was referring to your Arno Frisch comment, Weber. Our posts crossed.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 04:14 pm:   

I've been meaning to watch Tideland for a while - heard mixed reviews of it, both good and bad. D'you reckon I'd like it, Weber? I love weird things which don't really fit one category or another.
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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 04:43 pm:   

Only one way to find out if you like it Caroline. I think it's excellent FWIW. Suck it and see as they say
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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 04:43 pm:   

You might want to watch Tideland as well - before anyone else makes that joke
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 82.38.75.85
Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 08:33 pm:   

Naughty boy, Weber!
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.176.126.207
Posted on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 - 09:17 pm:   

Another thumbs up for TIDELAND from me as well, Caroline - a very good but scarcely shown film. The last time I saw Gilliam interviewed at the National Film Theatre earlier this year he asked the audience who amongst us had seen TIDELAND and was surprised when about twenty of us put our hands up - "that many?" he asked...

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