Drama lives on conflict. If youre trying to deal with social issues seriously, theres no way of avoiding violence, which is so present in society. – Michael Haneke
Funny Games was conceived as a provocation. My other films are different. If people feel my other films are, or respond to them as provocation, then thats quite different. Funny Games is the only one of mine where my intention was to provoke the audience. – Michael Haneke
To be perfectly honest, I think that as Im growing older, Im just growing more impatient. Ill be very happy if at some point people say, Michaels grown wiser and softer in his old age. But well have to wait and see what my next project is. – Michael Haneke
When I first envisioned Funny Games in the mid-1990s, it was my intention to have an American audience watch the movie. It is a reaction to a certain American cinema, its violence, its naivety, the way American cinema toys with human beings. In many American films, violence is made consumable. – Michael Haneke