Funny Games

I was so excited for Michael Haneke's remake (of his 1998 film of the same title) of "Funny Games" this time set in America instead of Deutschland. I did not see the original Funny Games, but I did see Haneke's Cache from 2006 which was one of the best films i've seen that critiques surveillance and elevates it to the level of moral tragedy. I love German movies/directors. Even if it is a "romantic" movie, there is are elements of either cold intellectual distance, pragmatism, or deconstruction of the relationship between viewer and film (or all four) in the best movies. Cache was superb and i'm thinking of purchasing the DVD so I can watch it again. However, I have been hesitant to shell out the money: one, it is expensive because it is a foreign film that was on limited release in the states; two, I don't know if I want to invest in a movie that I will probably not feel like watching over and over (it's quite heavy), and three, I already spent a crap load of money this quarter.
However, Funny Games opened in America to mixed reviews and scores a mediocre 64% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Not too surprised, I guess--because for one, it is a remake and an American version at that. Something is lost when you separate the original from the remake by ten years (and in that ten years movies such as Saw, Hostel, The Descent etc. have exhausted--and numbed our sensitivity to, and novelty of--the sadistic, shock-horror genre--effectively lowering the spectacle of violence to mere economics. And keep in mind that the original movie was intended for a German audience, whose cinematic tradition and visual vocabulary are quite different from those stateside) and release it to an American audience that has a tradition of popular interest in voyeuristic, shock-horror films. And Tim Roth, Tim Roth--pretty much gets owned in this movie. Tim Roth is Tim Roth because he has an edge--and I suppose his role in this movie renders him a butter knife. Perhaps they could have cast someone like...Jude Law or Eric Bana or Gerard Butler or something. I think, however, Naomi Watts is probably a good choice. Seeing her turn in Mullholland Dr. makes me think she would be effective in this role--she does the tortured, modern day hitchcock lady gone wrong quite well.
Well. I still want to see it. and the original. I probably won't like it since I think that pretty much only Tarantino can tackle gratuitous, spectacular violence in film with finesse. And even then. I think that his more recent attempts are a bit strained. Funny Games would probably be more innovative and interesting to me if I saw it ten years ago. But whatever. We'll see if I can handle it--perhaps i'll watch the German version first.