(Part of the weekly Instant Gratification feature)
Run time: 105 mins | Director: Michael Haneke
Netflix Categorization: Scary, Dark
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“My films are intended as polemical statements against the American ‘barrel down’ cinema and its dis-empowerment of the spectator” – Michael Haneke
There aren’t better words to describe Haneke’s films, especially those of the more violent nature like Funny Games and Benny’s Video. While some may chide him for being overly violent just for the sake of it (Funny Games), it would be more important to look at the psychological underpinnings that drive us toward violent or horrific movies. I think Benny, the character, does exactly that.
Benny, a spoiled and seemingly ignored upper class Viennese teenager, is obsessed with watching violent videos. He spends countless hours in his room (which is probably decked out with more video equipment than an editing room at VH1) watching and re-watching videos like that of a brutal slaughter of a pig on his family’s farm. Beyond the videos, his other activities seem to revolve around trying to master a pyramid scheme his sister enacted, barely speaking, watching war footage, and listening to really shitty metal. Typical teenage shit?
After his parents go away for the weekend, Benny visits his local video store and encounters a teenage girl (their interaction has no audio). After returning with her to his crib, she examines his bizarre video setup (he has two video cameras recording both outside his window and a corner of his bedroom, respectively) and the two engage in a little “foreplay.” And by foreplay, I mean, Benny pulls out the bolt-action mechanism that slaughtered the pig in his favorite video and holds it to his body. The video footage toggles to Benny’s recording and the mood grows tense. Benny urges the girl to pull the trigger, but she won’t (how’s that for a first date). Watching via Benny’s video (get it?) makes the scene somehow distant, but not at all far away. “Feigling!” he cries (Coward!) and he points it at her. Benny hesitates and won’t pull the trigger, but this time, she calls him the coward.
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