Movie Marathons

Michael Haneke Marathon

I'm going to be starting this marathon next Monday and I'll be giving each film a week. I've only seen one Haneke film thus far (Funny Games) and I loved it. I know some of his other stuff has received a considerable amount of praise so I've been wanting to catch up with more of it. He also just won the Palm D'Or at Cannes for his newest film, The White Ribbon. So I've picked 4 films that are very easy to get. All are available from Netflix and/or Blockbuster.com.

So let's get started.

July 27th - August 2nd : 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance

August 3rd - August 9th : Funny Games

August 10th - August 16th : The Piano Teacher

August 17th - August 23rd : Cache

Well there you have it. Four films and about a month to get to know Michael Haneke. So fire up your queue, and let's check these out.

* I'm not sure how much it actually matters whether or not you follow the schedule, but you know.... whatever..

Re:Michael Haneke Marathon

Queued up and ready to go! =)

Re:Michael Haneke Marathon

Oh yeah.... I guess I didn't specify which Funny Games to watch..... I've seen the original German version. I've heard the American remake was almost shot for shot the same so I guess it probably doesn't matter. I'll probably stick with the original because it will keep the schedule in chronological order but whatever.

Re:Michael Haneke Marathon

leeroy711:

Oh yeah.... I guess I didn't specify which Funny Games to watch..... I've seen the original German version. I've heard the American remake was almost shot for shot the same so I guess it probably doesn't matter. I'll probably stick with the original because it will keep the schedule in chronological order but whatever.

I'm loaded for this, although I personally thought that Funny Games ws way overrated. I've gone with the original one this time. Maybe that will improve it.

Re:Michael Haneke Marathon

unclefestering:

leeroy711:

Oh yeah.... I guess I didn't specify which Funny Games to watch..... I've seen the original German version. I've heard the American remake was almost shot for shot the same so I guess it probably doesn't matter. I'll probably stick with the original because it will keep the schedule in chronological order but whatever.

I'm loaded for this, although I personally thought that Funny Games ws way overrated. I've gone with the original one this time. Maybe that will improve it.

Awesome!! Andy's here... Now we can start the fun for real!!

Re:Michael Haneke Marathon

Would it be possible to take part in only the later half of the marathon? I'm stuck in Pittsburg until the 10th, and don't have netflix, but I know I will have access to both Cache and the Piano Teacher once I get back to school.

Re:Michael Haneke Marathon

indieabby88:

Would it be possible to take part in only the later half of the marathon? I'm stuck in Pittsburg until the 10th, and don't have netflix, but I know I will have access to both Cache and the Piano Teacher once I get back to school.

Yes, any level of participation is appreciated.

Re:Michael Haneke Marathon

Alright, so I'll start the first discussion for this week. I watched the first film of our marathon (71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance) last night. I have previously fallen asleep to this movie on 3 seperate occasions. But this time I made it all the way!!

The majority of what I had heard about it was that it was slow but if you could muster through it, there was a very good payoff at the end. I found this to be quite true. This film was the equivalent of a very slow boil. What did the rest of y'all think? I liked this film but didn't love it. I am pretty sure that most of this film was Haneke playing with his audience. A lot of the scenes were drug on so long that you kind of have to wonder why you're still watching this. On hindsight, his may have been a bad choice to start with.

I also just learned that this was the 3rd of Haneke's "Glaciation Trilogy". Which also included The Sevent Continent and Benny's Video. I don't know anything about those but after this marathon, I may have to put them on the list as well.

Re:Michael Haneke Marathon

Well I've actually seen the original Funny Games and The Seventh Continent. 

I would love to talk about both of them, especially Funny Games.  Since what I would be talking about would include spoilers though, I'll wait until everyone has confirmed they've watched it now.  But I'll be back.  Please everyone see this one!!!

Re:Michael Haneke Marathon

Alright, time to pick this discussion back up.. Sorry for the delay, I meant to post at least once a week here but I've been really under the weather lately and am just getting back on my feet. So where are we? First of all, is anyone following along? Well y'all should have at least caught up to Funny Games by now so let's open up that discussion. I guess if you haven't seen it, as Brian said, WATCH IT and come back to this topic.... SPOILERS TO FOLLOW.

I absolutely love this film, unclefestering mentioned earlier that he always found it to be overrated and I'd like to hear his reasoning. I think this film gets better with every viewing. I think what Haneke does with the third wall is incredible. The two home invaders in this film are in a way, superimposed voices of the filmmaker. The spend the vast majority of the film telling you how it will end, and for some reason, you as the audience never believe them. The way Haneke maneuvers through this technique is what I love the most about this film.

There is another, probably more profound aspect to this film as well. It tricks the audience into thinking that this is some sort of torture porn. In a way, it still is. But, it is much more of Haneke rubbing our nose in it. I think he is very condescendingly asking: "Is this really what you want to see?".... "Because this is what it actually looks like." ** Hint: If you like this aspect, it is also very prevalent in at least one of his other films later in this marathon.**

Anyway, that's my quick two cents. I want to hear what the rest of you have to say.