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Karen Gillan recommended Funny Games (2007) in Movies (curated)

Funny Games (2007)

2007 | Drama, Thriller

6.3

(8 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"This is hard, because it could be many things. I mean, it could be Kubrick, it could be Haneke again. Do I need to mix it up a little bit? I feel like I’ve gone very serious. I think it’s either 2001: A Space Odyssey or Funny Games by Michael Haneke. What I like about Funny Games is a moment, actually, where all of it… OK, I think 2001 is a better movie. However, there’s a moment in Funny Games that’s genius, that I love, which is when he turns to the audience, and suddenly turns the whole movie into this kind of study, where we are accountable as an audience. Because we like the violence that’s happening in the movie, and he’s doing it for us, so suddenly we’re culpable. And I think that’s a really cool moment in film that I haven’t really seen other than that. Yeah, I thought that was really clever. Also, I’m talking the American remake, not the original, because he remade it shot-for-shot for the American audience, which is really interesting, because he made it in German and then it only had so much reach, and then was like, “I want to make this for a society where violence maybe is a little more glamorized.” And I’m not just saying that about Americans; I think we’re the same in the UK, where we really like watching that on-screen. It’s just a really interesting study into that, and so, for that reason, I’m going with that. And one time I hosted a screening where all of our friends came down and watched it, and I have never seen a more depressed group of people in my life, and it was a huge mistake. [laughs] Everyone left immediately. No one hung around after."

Source

Kudos

ClareR (6157 KP) rated A Thousand Moons in Books

Apr 10, 2020

A Thousand Moons

Sebastian Barry | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+

9.5

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

A Thousand Moons is set after the American Civil War in 1870’s Tennessee. This book follows on from Days Without End, and whilst I haven’t read it (yet! It’s on my bookshelf!), it didn’t affect my enjoyment at all.

Winona is a Lakota orphan who has been adopted by former soldiers Thomas McNulty and John Cole. She lives on their farm with them and Lige Magan, and two ex-slaves, Rosalee and Tennyson. Racism is still rife: Native Americans are seen as little more than animals, and black people are still hanged in the streets without trial for minor infractions.

Despite this, Winona has an admirer who wants to marry her: a white man. He’s persistent, and she doesn’t seem sure as to whether she really wants to marry him. And then something terrible happens. Winona is brought home: she is battered, raped and she doesn’t remember what happened or who did it.

This is such an emotional book. Winona’s reaction after her attack, coupled with the fact that she will never have any protection under the law, is heartbreaking.

Things that happen to other characters just seems to show starkly the injustices in the USA at this time. But it is all told in the most beautiful way. The writing really is exquisite: the descriptions of Winona’s inner thoughts, the descriptions of the landscape, and the way that life is shown, all really drew me in to this story. I loved reading it every day on The Pigeonhole. I will certainly be getting the first book in this series down off the shelf to read.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book, and to Sebastian Barry for joining in.