A haunting piece of art,Benny is like a neo-structuralist child of the remnants of Nazi youth.The repetitive violence he's self-subdued leads us to a powerful question,that of the worth of human responsibility.
I thought it was predictable, slowly paced... and utterly creepy! This is Haneke's most straightforward film that I've seen, so those that hate the usual mockeries will probably like this better than his other works. "Benny's Video" includes some deeply unsettling situations. It's disturbing to see what Benny causes and does. Also, animal lovers are to keep far away from this. (Come to think of it, the only Haneke film that I've seen that doesn't include animal cruelty is "La Pianiste.") It might be preachy, it might disturb you; the psycho teenager's ultimate action is worth a look, though. It's an ending similar to a very famous movie, only this gets my pick as the better one. ... Oh the joy of having children!
I don't know if haneke's other films have the same vibe and pacing, but I did not like this one too much. I realize that the characters void of conscience or compassion were intentional, but I was really not engaged.
I can see why some appreciate it though, I give it it's due. A 3 star rating in my opinion.
Gosh well I'd heard this was a rather disturbing flick, but heck those words get tossed around so often that it's hard to tell. Well before you go any further I must say that this is extremely disturbing, not perhaps in a way that one might expect. In fact when I was watching the movie I wasn't tremendously disturbed, but rather after it sticks in the brain and disturbs more and more and frankly I can't get this film out of my head. It's unnervingly realistic and it sort of makes you question anyone you'd pass on the street, not exactly the sort of thing a person would want so please make darned sure you are ready for this film before you watch it.
Alright that being said, honestly there isn't really much gore or blood or even more than one murder. This is really more of a drama based around one horrific incident. The story is about a young boy named Benny (I think he's supposed to be fourteen) who is seemingly very young and innocent and approachable. He does have an obsession with horror films and in fact he made a video of a trip to the slaughterhouse. In the video he shoots a pig in the head with a pneumatic gun, and apparently he took the pneumatic gun home with him afterwards. He watches the pig video over and over again, but other than that again he seems very normal.
Then we see him meet this young female friend (I think she is supposed to be twelve years old) who is entirely an ordinary looking innocent young girl (her favorite movie is "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"). Anyhow, he asks her to shoot him with the pneumatic gun, but she refuses so he shoots her. I won't get into detail about the death but it's shocking how calm Benny is throughout. He video tapes the death and then his parents find it.
Then the rest of the film is the parent's reaction and solution to the problem which is also rather shocking, yet believable. I think that's what makes this such a shocking video is that it is entirely believable and that is sickening. If you do like this sort of film, I would suggest watching it but I'm not sure I'll ever watch it again no matter how powerful it was.
I watched this movie a couple of years ago and expected some light teenage love story as the backside of the dvd seemed to promise and got literally blown out of my shoes.The turning point in the story came so sudden, brutally and unexpected that it really went down your spine.I was torn between keep on focussing the screen out of curiosity and incredibility and turning it off because I couldn`t stand the sight. A movie that thrilled me but that I am not going to watch again.
MCT:August 26, 2008
MCT:June 14, 2008
MCT:June 13, 2008
MCT:October 5, 2007
