No one knows the real reason why Michael Haneke chose to remake his own film. He said it was because the original version barely made a dent in English-speaking countries, but this version had a similar reception. It was an interesting experiment, working for the very reason Gus Van Sant’s remake of Psycho failed. While Psycho was full of actors wrong for their parts, the Funny Games remake had a more seasoned International cast. The biggest names were Naomi Watts and Tim Roth. Roth shows that perhaps the role of the husband is underwritten while Watts gives one of her best performances. The best performance is Michael Pitt as the emotionally disconnected stranger who always has the upper hand. Maybe it is a language barrier, but I find more nuance in Pitt than his counterpart from the original film.
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