No mere gimmick, Michael Haneke’s US version of his 1997 Austrian thriller reinforces the troubling nature of a society plagued by violence.
In the US, the relationship between screen and real-life violence is complex. So it seems natural that Michael Haneke would look to remake his most notorious film there. But what he produces is a shot-for-shot remake of his original, albeit with Naomi Watts and Tim Roth as the unsuspecting couple and a terrifying Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet as the tennis whites-wearing sociopaths. The action now unfolds in the affluent Hamptons, but what unfolds remains the same. And the power of the film is no less chilling second time around.
