NPR: A Tale of Two Trailers

A Tale of Two Trailers

Funny Games comes out tomorrow. It looks like a pretty disturbing film from director Michael Haneke, in which two young men take a vacationing family hostage. As you may know, Haneke has covered this subject matter before. In fact, he made this exact movie before, in 1997, in Austria. The trailers go nearly shot-for-shot. A comparison -- and be warned, they really are disturbing -- after the jump.

First, the new U.S. version:

And the Austrian version.

Now one review notes that there may be talk of less-than-artistic motivations for making Funny Games twice.

Film snobs will sneer at the idea of Haneke remaking his own film as a crass money grab or bid for a bigger American audience. But Haneke has always seemed more interested in making movies than making money, and he could make any film he wanted anywhere he wanted...

So if it's not money or fame, what is it?

Ian Chillag

2:48 PM ET | 03-13-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

It's not sporting to ask a question and eliminate the two most likely answers. Since the movie is also a shot-for-shot remake of the original what other reasons could there be? According to the reviews that are out nothing about the "artistic vision" has changed. This is good and bad. At least it wasn't dumbed down for American audiences like _The Vanishing_ was. On the other hand I am reasonably sure I wouldn't like the original either. It is hard to take seriously a film that ostensibly criticizes the violent excesses of horror/suspense films while trading in exactly the same type of violence for violence sake exploitation. I prefer movies like _Syrianna_ or _Hard Candy_ where the violence is a necessary part of the story, but not the central purpose of the film. Actually I prefer _Local Hero_ to any of them. It's more fun to watch, and I sleep better afterwards.

Sent by Dave Wiley | 6:08 PM ET | 03-13-2008

I saw this trailer the other night and oh boy. I'm not gonna watch it again and I sure ain't going to the movie.

Sent by Sarah Goodyear | 6:46 PM ET | 03-13-2008

Wow, what a creepy trailer. Though the movie looks interesting, I would be watching it through my fingers with a great deal of anxiety. I don't think I will put myself through that. I do know several who probably will enjoy the film.

But I do have a question. Why is making a movie for money or fame given a negative connotation? This seem to be true for any so called "artistic" endeavor. I guess artists are supposed to starve while the rest of the world benefits from their suffering. Please!

Sent by Susanna | 4:08 PM ET | 03-14-2008

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