“My films are intended as polemical statements against the American ‘barrel down’ cinema and its dis-empowerment of the spectator. They are an appeal for a cinema of insistent questions instead of false (because too quick) answers, for clarifying distance in place of violating closeness, for provocation and dialogue instead of consumption and consensus.” — From […]
Tag Archives: Michael Haneke
April
23
The Piano Teacher – Jelinek and Haneke and Austria. (film review)
posted by lisathatcher
In 2001 when Michael Haneke decided to adapt Elfriede Jelinek’s amazing novel The Piano Teacher, Elfriede Jelinek had not yet won the Nobel Prize for her work, and Haneke had not yet made The White Ribbon. The Piano Teacher is a direct (and one of many regular) criticism of Austrian society by Elfriede Jelinek. She […]
February
12
Whity – Fassbinder and the dark side of the Western. (film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
How interesting to see Whity just two weeks after I saw Django Unchained. Both Fassbinder and Tarantino pay homage / deconstruct the Western in the two films, while Tarantino goes the Blacksploitation route and Fassbinder goes the gay/subteranean-fucked-up-route. It will come as no surprise to readers of this blog that I preferred Whity. It displays […]
January
18
Time of the Wolf – Haneke and the start of all things at the end of the World. (Film Review)
posted by lisathatcher
If you ever catch yourself wondering how the first full realized (as we know it today) human creatures “decided” to bring religion and politics into their lives, Time of the Wolf is the film for you. A truly underrated Haneke masterpiece, Time of the Wolf is a typically complicated tale of desperation in human beings […]
January
04
71 Fragments of a chronology of chance – Haneke ice cold. (film review)
posted by lisathatcher
Someone close to me whose film tastes I admire greatly told me this film affected them very deeply, so out of respect I raced to the video store to rent it last week. What I also got on the disc was a thirty minute interview with Michael Haneke which was fantastically interesting – I almost […]
December
22
Funny Games – Haneke holds a mirror. (film review)
posted by lisathatcher
I wanted the 2007 version of Funny Games tonight. I haven’t seen the version made ten years earlier, but given the nature of the film, I’m not at all surprised he chose to remake it and wouldn’t be surprised if he chose to make it again. This is a film about us as an audience […]
SFF: Amour – Michael Haneke and the question of the end.
posted by lisathatcher
I saw Amour last night at the Sydney Film Festival and I am still wrapped up in its world. What a delicate, beautifully made film – one completely deserving its accolades and applause. There is little to say that hasn’t already been said about this film – and it isn’t due for release till after […]
Lisa Thatcher 