One of the most controversial and creatively exciting film-makers working
today, Michael Haneke has made acclaimed films in German and French, and has
now remade one of his own films, Funny Games, in English, in Hollywood. The
Austrian director reached a wider audience with Hidden (2005), starring
Daniel Auteuil and Juliette Binoche, an unsettling thriller that exploited
France’s suppressed colonial guilt over Algeria. The Piano Teacher (2001),
with Isabelle Huppert, was a disturbing study of obsession and desire. The
original German-language Funny Games (1997), in which a couple and their son
are terrorised in their home by two young men, was a critique of American
cinema’s appetite for violence. To underline his point, Haneke has remade it
scene-for-scene for an American audience. He explains how and why to Martin
Brady.
How did the remake of Funny Games come about? I was asked to do it.
The first version, unfortunately, didn’t get seen by its intended audience
because it was in German, so I thought this would be a good opportunity for
it to reach the audience it was originally made for. That is the only
reason.
Did you know immediately you would reconstruct the film shot-for-shot?
Perhaps not immediately, but fairly soon, because I think the film hasn’t
lost any of its relevance. If anything, it has become more relevant over the
past 10 years. And I didn’t see any need to add anything to it. It is about
the representation of violence in the media. In fact, I think it is more
relevant than ever, because the pornography of violence in the media has
increased.
What was it like coming back to one of your own films after 10 years? Did
you find any mistakes or things that, in retrospect, you would have liked to
change? Certainly. If I was to make the film again from scratch, there
would be one or two shots I would do differently. But, since I had decided
to make a shot-for-shot remake, I told myself that if that was the
principle, I should stick to it.
In some details, the correspondences are remarkable. To take one example,
the trainers the boys wear are identical, right down to the lettering on
them. Are they the same shoes? [Laughs] I already had a particular kind
of shoe in my mind back then, and they are still available.
Did you work on location with a DVD of the first version? No, no.
Although, when some of the shots were rather complicated in terms of the
camerawork, we did sometimes have a look at the original, but [generally] I
work from a story-board. It’s quite amusing. The old one has the drawings in
it, and the new one has photographs of the first version stuck in to replace
the drawings.
And did the actors study the first film beforehand? They’d obviously
seen it - they wanted to know what they were letting themselves in for - but
I suggested they shouldn’t watch it again, because that would probably have
paralysed them. They would be forced, as actors, either to do it differently
deliberately or intentionally do it the same way.
‘ Did you work on the translation yourself? I noticed a few small
changes. There’s a reference to “white trash” and a laptop, which weren’t
there in 1997. Yes, yes. A number of translators worked on it. The first
produced a rough translation, then a second one worked through it. Then I
went through it with an American director and scriptwriter, and some small
details were changed. For example, in the Austrian version, the wife doesn’t
know the phone number for the police by heart. I was told that wouldn’t be
the case in America. Everyone knows 911, especially after 9/11. These are
small details that had to be adjusted to fit in with the American way of
life. They are simply details of dialogue and have nothing to do with
aesthetics.
It has all been done with such attention to detail, even in the case of
the programmes on the television. Putin is new ... but the report about the
storms and the motor racing are there again. Yes [Laughs].
On the other hand, there are obviously differences. In the case of the
actors ... Yes, of course. It would have been dreadful if that wasn’t
the case.
They are people, after all, not marionettes.
I read that Naomi Watts was a condition for the remake. Why? Just as I
had said I would only make The Piano Teacher if Isabelle Huppert was in it,
so, in this case, I would only do it if Naomi Watts was in it. I think she
is the best English-speaking actress in her age group. I had seen her in two
films, Mulholland Drive and 21 Grams, and in both cases I thought she was
absolutely magnificent.
Do you think that as a result of Naomi Watts the film has a stronger Anna,
for example in the way she deals with her husband? The character is the
same, but the chemistry between the pair is different. That is what’s
exciting about it. If that wasn’t the case, the whole thing would simply be
a mathematical exercise. The work with the actors is always the most
exciting thing.
Do you see the first version differently now you’ve worked in France and
in America? No, I still stand by the first film. I just thought it was a
shame that because it was in German it didn’t reach the audience I had hoped
for. That’s why I remade it.
Do you have a different view of American cinema now you have worked over
there? No, no. There are films there I like, and those I don’t. That’s
how it was before, and nothing has changed [Laughs].
Do you watch the films Funny Games is directed against? Rarely. You
have to keep yourself informed, so I watch the odd thing in order to know
what’s going on. In general, I don’t watch that sort of thing because it
makes me sick. I’m not a masochist, after all.
Not a masochist, perhaps, but a moralist? It all depends on what you
mean by a moralist. If you mean a preacher, then I hope I’m not one, but
there is such a thing as aesthetic morality. I think respect for the
audience is also a matter of morality, treating the audience as grown-ups. I
don’t want to treat the audience as if they are more stupid than I am. That
is, if you like, a moral stance. At least, it certainly isn’t a cynical one.
I recently saw the Funny Games trailer. Were you involved with the making
of it? No, no, no. I don’t get involved with these things, on principle,
because I don’t know how to do it. It was the same with Caché [Hidden] -
when I saw the trailer, I roared with laughter. It had nothing whatsoever to
do with the film, but it was undoubtedly efficient and I thought it would
entice people into the cinema. That’s what happened. I hope it will be the
same in this case. As far as I can see, these trailers generally have
nothing much to do with the film, with its aesthetic or its intentions, but
they do attract people. And that’s what they are there for.
Will the film also be screened in Austria? Yes, certainly. That will
be really bizarre, because the English film will be dubbed into German
[Laughs].
Do you expect people to react differently to the American version of Funny
Games? Well, I hope people will be moved by it. That’s why one makes
films, after all.
Are you still interested in crimes without any apparent motive? Yes,
of course, it’s a global phenomenon. In America, you find it more often than
[in Europe], I think, because there the level of violence has reached new
heights, but I think that it’s an international phenomenon. Why should
America be an exception? Rather the reverse.
You’ve said you have a problem with films that combine violence and humour.
Yes.
But your film has humour, hasn’t it? Yes. Let’s say it’s got
wit; I’m not so sure about humour.
Could you imagine remaking any of your other films? No, definitely
not. I’ve been approached regarding Caché, and my response was, I’m not
going to do it. Apparently, Ron Howard wants to, and I’ve said fine -
if they pay properly, they can do it. They can rewrite it and do what they
want with it. But then it has nothing to do with me.
So it could be done with other films as well? I couldn’t care less.
They can film whatever they want. It’s probably a good thing, in fact,
because then you’ll see the difference between my film and someone else’s.
But Funny Games was a special case, because it was intended for an
English-speaking audience all along. I definitely won’t be remaking any of
my other films.
And with the actors? Did they find the violent scenes difficult? It
was okay with the actors, although it wasn’t easy for them, either. It isn’t
much fun playing this couple, but of course it’s also rewarding. A good
actor sees in it something that can feed his ego. The roles have a lot to
offer.
It would be good to screen the two versions together. Yes, I’m sure
that’ll happen [Laughs].
Funny Games opens on April 4
