Mainstream cinema raises questions only to immediately provide an answer to them, so they can send the spectator home reassured. If we actually had those answers, then society would appear very different from what it is. – Michael Haneke
People expect me to be dark and gloomy, then write that Im a jolly chap, and after all, that is what I am. I think its a case of an absolute romantic naivety that there should be a parallel between the work and the artist. – Michael Haneke
To me, its far more efficient to mobilize the imagination. Its far more efficient to hear a creaking step, for example, than to see the face of a monster, which usually looks ridiculous, and where you know that the blood is ketchup. – 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