The Castle - 1997 - Dir. Haneke

I think this was being taken off Netflix so I popped it on. I like Haneke. He seems to enjoy making movies with neat hooks but remain interesting throughout. Often challenging. And you know... Kafka's all right, I guess. Haneke's style mesh really well. It's kind of a strange movie to comment upon because, like the book, it ends mid sentence. And it kind of drones on... so without an ending, you feel like you just witnessed a series of pointless events. Or at least... the movie is repetitive. We watch K bang his head against the bureaucracy of in several different forms. Then it ends. We could play the game where watching the movie could mirror K's experience. But I don't feel like playing that game, even though, you know... I wouldn't be surprised by Haneke pulling that. The movie is fun (to me) though. I like watching that kind of conflict a Man against an overly complicated system. Haneke is more subtle than others, the system doesn't visually loom and scream at K. It crawls. We're treated to several walking sequences. Back and forth. Characters shift spasmodically at times. There are plenty of Funny Games alum about which is fun to see (Plenty meaning three). If this sounds like its up your alley, it probably is. It was up mine. I like Haneke can make a hell of a movie, so there!

Am I in Funny Games, right now?

Funny Games - 2008 - Dir. Haneke

Caché - 2005 - Dir. Haneke

I don't know why, but all of a sudden, I'm all interested in Michael Haneke. The only movie I saw of his was Funny Games back in high school, which I loved but I think I was hesitant to watch another of his films, even the shot-for-shot US remake. My brother was watching the US version and I suddenly delved into the man. I have the remake and the original lined up to watch, but I decided to kick it with something altogether new: Caché. Haneke definitely has a bit of a auteur thing going. And the man can make a smart thriller. I do fall on the side of being an awesome film. Sure, they aren't always the most satisfying thing to watch, he's a big fan of leaving the view to speculate. But by now you should know that I have a boner for that. I like that he can be a little mean in his story telling. I like his long, wide shots. I liked 'em eight years ago in Funny Games, and I liked 'em this afternoon. Caché did nothing but confirm this: I must like Haneke. I have to say after you catch on with what the movie is doing, it's a little less interesting. So I guess there's a bit of a slump along the way, but there's still plenty of questions that need answering, and whether or not Haneke answers these questions, he handles the rest of the film deftly. Also, I was a big fan of Auteuil in the film. I've never seen anything he was in before, but he pulled off the character to a T.

Michael Haneke is about sneeze!