Upon the remake of a classic Funny Games, I felt obligated to bring up the topic of modernism in film and how it is relevant in today’s society.

Modernist films including Funny Games, are designed to be confrontational. It is design for the audience to feel uncomfortable. In a way it is more art than entertainment. For example in the beginning when Peter tries to borrow some eggs there seems to be nothing out of ordinary. There is even a sense of humor because he is so awkward and uncomfortable in the house. However, when Paul killed the dog, tension builds up and when the confrontation occurred between the family and psychos, resulting in a hostage situation, people began to feel uncomfortable, angry and frustrated because they want the “heros” or family to fight back or be rescued.

Many elements of the film played to this effect. For example in the middle of the movie there is a brief moment where the broken cell phone began to receive signal. Thus the audiences feel that this is the turning point they have been waiting for, but the call does not get through. It seems that our hopes are shattered and we fell back into the state of despair along with the family.

The whole movie is pretty much a grand design of frustration and confrontation. It is done through clever use of dialogues and actions. The story in my opinion is truly superb. However there is a side of me that always ask me why would I enjoy such a terrifying film. I guess that’s exactly the purpose behind Funny Games’ production.