MovieChat Forums > Benny's Video (1993) Discussion > anyone else hate his movies?

anyone else hate his movies?

posted 17 years ago by Fat_tone420
10 replies | jump to latest

of the three films of his i've seen (benny's video, Cache, funny games) i have found them incredibly boring. i respect him as a director and i think he has these amazing concepts that sound terrific when you read the synopsis but then when I watch them i am just bored to death. i personally hate his violence without showing violence themes... and yes i know for some people they consider his movies very violent and they make them feel uneasy but it just bores me... that pig execution wasn't bad at all (obviously it is disturbing that teen just plays that footage over and over and enjoys it) but they should of used the footage of a pig being burned with a homemade flamethrower shown in Traces Of Death (now that would make you feel uneasy) on the plus side at least it had a clip from THE TOXIC AVENGER (one of my personal favorites, which probably says a lot about my taste in movies). so does anyone else get bored watching his films?

[–] chibilute 17 years ago

i think what they showed of the pig is enough. no offense, but doesn't it say something about you that you think they should show an even worse video in place of an already horrible one?

and while i love haneke's films and others that are done in the same style, i can see why someone would think that they are boring. so that's understandable. you either have the absolute love for his methods of taking time with the story, or you don't.

i'm sorry if this post came off as condescending.

[–] binaryconsciousness-1 16 years ago

Um... I respect your decision to not like the film, cause really, taste is subjective. But, I feel like you've missed out somehow on what Haneke is trying to communicate about violence and society (and also film making, but that's a different story) Tension and violence in his films are never as overt as they are in American cinema, and the want for gratuitous (but meaningful) violence is more at home in a Cronenberg (who's Canadian BTW) flic. For Haneke, there is an existential nihilism which I feel would be undone by a "tasteless" display of over violence ala the pig burning you refer to. These are not films for the *beep* Violence can be done tastefully and it can be done excessively, it can be satirical and it can be funny as Hell. For Haneke it is part and parcel of a society that at once refuses to accept it's own murderous impulses and at the same time the source that those impulses stem from. Lastly, if you need to quote "Faces of Death" (Sensational violence) in your post then that tels us all we need to know...

[–] stefanoulis 15 years ago

I'm sure that there are more people who hate those movies for the reasons you do, as well as I'm absolutely sure that a lot of people who are going to read your post will think that you are totally insensitive and of a very low cultural level.

P.S. The synopses sound terrific because they are written by people who understood those movies

[–] craigthemoviegeek 15 years ago

Though I totally disagree with him/her, I think the original poster didn't come off sounding lowbrow. I think he's missing the point of why Haneke's style is often 'slow' or mundane, but it's fair enough that he has trouble sitting through it. He articulated it well without sounding stupid or insulting.

And to the original poster --- one of the main reasons that certain scenes are 'mundane' is because he is seeking to make it feel like real life. Real life is boring. Real life is mundane tasks. You identify on a deeper level with these characters because they are you. In Seventh Continent, you don't even see their faces until about 15 minutes into the movie, because you're meant to put your own face on these characters.

Yes --- it can be slow, but it's much more effective and chilling. As a side note, this is also why J-horror movies never translate to Hollywood. They always suck all the creepy moodiness out of them to pump up the action for a North American audience.

[–] Hawkmek 15 years ago

Yes, it was boring, steaming pile of poo.
No redeeming qualities whatsoever.

[–] ClenRen 15 years ago

I say Funny games U.S. is his best work.

Funny games (original) alright
Cache (boring)
Time of the wolf (boring)
Benny's video (Half interesting half boring)

I'm looking for more Haneke movies to find ones good like the Funny games.

[–] jabberttp 12 years ago

Now THAT'S interesting.

I've seen both Funny Games (the remake was the most useless movie I've seen - even moreso than the shot for shot remake of Psycho) and really disliked them.

BUT while I agree both Cache and Benny's Video suffered from boring pacing, I actually liked them both, and felt Benny's Video's message and dealing with emotions set it FAR above his other movies.

I've not had time to see Time of the Wolf (laff) but the description sounds like I would groove to it.

[–] sepsism 15 years ago

You sound a lot like Benny Fat tone420, he would no doubt enjoy the flamethrower idea also

If you are looking for violence-for-violence sake entertainment there are many wonderful titles to choose from.

UNCOMPROMISING UNDERGROUND FILTH

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] DrTomato 10 years ago

A bit daft are we today?