The surealism both the Anna and the audience received, when this otherwise innocuous looking duo ask Anna "what game" in a dumbfounded manner, was sensational. The sensation extended when George is suddenly put into the scene, and Anna has to hear them explain to him what has happened, and ended when Anna says she's had enough and goes to another room.
It is the point of no return for this crime, and the most tumultuous moment of the film for me.
my favourite scene was the extended void of action or dialogue after the son was killed where we, as the audience, were given time to process our own thoughts and feelings about it. what a powerful scene.
shareI actually liked the remote scene. I saw it as "damn these people can't catch a break" and I don't know why I found this so amusing.
shareI love after *spoilers* the wife escapes and the husband is sitting at home and the golf ball slowly rolls into frame. So powerful, and you know s*** is about to go down.
shareThere are so many great scenes in this film, and many of my favorites have already been mentioned. I especially love the "hot-cold" game where Paul, with a cruel sense of playful mischief, leads Anna to her dead dog. She is defiant as she struggles to retain her composure in the face of her sadistic captor's games, but then the family dog plops unceremoniously out of the car as she opens the door. It's like a crude exclamation point that punctuates the scene with sadistic aplomb. Along with Anna, the audience gasps. The direction of the scene is so perfect, especially the stunning shot where the camera racks focus from Anna fumbling about helplessly in the background, to Paul in the foreground, who cranes his neck to face the camera and knowingly wink at the audience in close-up. "Kalt, kalt, kalt." Paul's taunting admonishments to the increasingly frustrated Anna, echoing the icy condescension of a smug schoolteacher, are forever burned into my brain.
I also love the masterful scene where little George frantically runs to the neighbor's house for help as Paul stalks him at a leisurely pace. The dichotomy between little George's utter panic and Paul's affectless sense of stoic calm is haunting. In terms of menace, Paul gives Michael Myers from Halloween a run for his money here. He is inescapable, almost demonic as his pristine white tennis outfit emerges from the darkness like a vengeful ghost. Haneke generally favors static long-takes, but with its tight, increasingly claustrophobic framing and disorienting quick cuts, the scene is clearly filmed and edited in the stylish manner of Hitchcock to maximize the suspense. As little George hides in a dark closet, the shot of his feet suddenly illuminated from under the door frame as the light is turned on in the adjacent room, revealing to him (and us) that his position has already been exposed by his wet footprints, is so simple and so distressing. And the whole scene climaxes brilliantly with little George clumsily pointing a shotgun at Paul. It is clear that little George doesn't know how to use the gun. Tauntingly, Paul instructs the boy to prime the trigger. As Paul inches closer imperiously, the boy pulls the trigger. The tension is immediately diffused as we realize that Paul has already removed the bullets. Triumphant and smiling, Paul delivers the mocking line in close-up: "Poof." Checkmate. The tension throughout the scene is unbelievable, particularly since there is a child in danger!
And you will know my name is The Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee!