"D" Rating by Robert W. Hammerle

I have long felt that if there ever was a movie that you could truly classify as "pornographic," it was David Fincher's "Seven" (1995). For those of you who haven't seen it, it is a movie that sucks the audience into an emotional abyss where the good guy detective (Brad Pitt) is induced to commit the cardinal sin of Wrath by a serial killer played to perfection by Kevin Spacey. The ending of this movie is extraordinarily loathsome, all the more so because of great performances by Mr. Pitt, Mr. Spacey and the always dependable Morgan Freeman.

Having now seen "Funny Games," I must put it on the shelf with "Seven" as a borderline pornographic film. Simply put, Michael Haneke's disturbing movie calls for the audience to volitionally sit as voyeurs as we watch a decent family being taunted and debased while they await their horrific destruction.

Like the aforementioned "Seven," this movie is made all the more unsettling because of some very fine performances. While one is left to wonder why the accomplished Naomi Watts would appear in this destructive piece of cinema, her acting genius lends credence to the moral decay of this plot in much the same fashion as her similarly effective performance in "The Ring" (2002).

Anyone who has seen the previews knows its plot. Ms. Watts, her husband (Tim Roth) and their young son are heading toward their vacation home on a lake. Two young men, both dressed in white shirts, shorts, tennis shoes and gloves, appear at their door asking for some eggs. (Don't ask why.) Our two creepy visitors turn out to be psychopathic serial killers who hold this family overnight while playing the game they ominously call, "Let's see if any of you are still alive at nine o'clock in the morning."

The story initially unfolds in an admittedly intriguing fashion. The killers, played with an emotionless glee by Michael Pitt and Bradey Corbet, are fascinating to watch as they gradually begin to torment this family. However, what soon unfolds is so incredibly humiliating that you have to resist the urge to simply leave the theater.

What kept me from doing so was an interesting twist in this tale from hell where Mr. Pitt occasionally looks into the camera and addresses the audience. In doing so, Mr. Haneke seemingly taunts the people who have paid to see his film. It's almost as if he is asking the audience something along the line of "So, you like to watch violent films like the "Saw" series and "Hostel? Then why don't you stick around and become a participant while our two boys in white brutalize this innocent family before killing them?"

Admittedly, there is something mesmerizing in the performances given by Mr. Pitt and Mr. Corbet. Killers without any semblance of a conscience, they engage in their depraved conduct with a bizarre sense of whimsy and humor. Nonetheless, this movie so completely looses any semblance of emotional resonance halfway through that it is hard to care what happens to anyone.

For those of you still harboring a doubt concerning what this movie was really about, imagine Vice President Cheney having a rogue CIA team kidnap a family of three and transporting them to Guantanamo. Imagine further this family being water-boarded over a period of twenty-four hours while being taunted by their captors. Imagine even further that everything is filmed, including their inevitable demise. Would you pay to watch it?