Michael Haneke

Michael Haneke has indeed created a great deal of controversy throughout his career as a film director. I have to say that I was shocked when I first saw 'Funny Games' in 1997, but after buying the DVD and watching it a few times I saw that there was a very strong message behind a seemingly excessive dramatic portrayal. His movies actually exhibit great subtlety, even though your impressions during and after viewing are quite the opposite. He repeatedly takes the approach of not showing the violence directly, but giving you just the sound, or the aftermath of the violence. In this way Haneke's movies are not gratuitous or insulting in any way, as I found Gaspar Noe's 'Irreversible' and 'I Stand Alone' to be. I will let Haneke explain his intentions in making these films in the following quotes, taken from the wonderful interviews at the end of the 'glaciation' trilogy. The trilogy includes 'The Seventh Continent', 'Benny's Video' and '71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance.' The most striking thing about this trilogy to me is the starkness, particularly in the soundtrack. I believe that his love for music is so great that he never stoops to using it as a mere device. His approach to sound is more about the sound of the film itself, an effect that Andrei Tarkovsky beautifully acheived in his 'Stalkers' and 'Sacrifice' films. As a musician and composer I appreciate this technique very much. Also, Haneke never insults the viewer by showing too much or explaining too much. He, as Tarkovsky does, likes to simply pose the questions. I think the greatest art we can produce induces within the spectator a sense of reverie, introspection and reflection. That is not done by mainstream movies, which give you everything through a feeding tube and vulgarly make you feel emotions using some over-the-top, overly-romantic soundtrack. I always feel manipulated when I see these movies, don't you? Anyway, with the immenent release of Hanake's US version of 'Funny Games' I thought I would post some of his thoughts on film and art.

"With sound, just like with words, you incite the imagination. If I want to touch someone emotionally I use sound rather than an image"

"You feel violence in the exact measure that you don't show it. And I think you also sense beauty and grace in the way you avoid showing it. In today's sociological climate, if I try to show beauty it becomes a lie. So by avoiding to show it, we cause it in the viewers reactions."

"Art has never agreed with the status quo. You should always rebel against what is wrong. You can rebel against it in a film by showing it. By showing it in a way that gives you a desire for the alternative; not in a way that makes it consumable, evil or violence or what have you. In general the mainstream does that. It makes even the most reprehensible side of things into something consumable. You see films that are very violent. Violence is shown in a manner that is enjoyable. I find that disgusting."

"My films are the expression of a desire for a better world."