Fridae

Michael Haneke is one of the most provocative contemporary directors alive. Starting his career in Europe, his films like The Piano Teacher (with Isabelle Huppert) and Code Unknown (with Juliette Binoche) announced to the whole world that this was a serious and uncompromising filmmaker who would reinvent cinema in ways no one would imagine.

Among his early successes was Funny Games, a startling thriller that combined elements of suspense, horror and alienation techniques to question the very genres the film borrowed from. Funny Games was such a hit in Europe in 1997 that Michael decided to remake the film � almost shot by shot � in English for worldwide audiences.

The new version is called Funny Games U.S. and is similar to the original one � except this one has Hollywood stars like Naomi Watts, Tim Roth and Michael Pitt in the cast. So if you haven't seen the original version, you owe it to yourself to catch this one.

Naomi and Tim play a couple vacationing in a summer house with their young son (Devon Gearhart). One bright morning, a knock on the door reveals two polite strangers (Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet) and what begins as an innocent request from them sparks off a horrific series of events that'll make your stomach turn.

Director Michael Haneke is not interested in unnerving you the way other thrillers do. He rattles your cage with bizarre cinematic devices instead � like abrupt cuts, rewinding scenes and having the actors talk straight to audiences. In short, this film is unlike anything you've ever seen before.

Bold and uncompromising, this is a must-watch.