An idyllic summer at a lakeside house turns nasty horror for two brothers in this gruesome debut from Austrian film-maker Veronika FranzThis icy Euro-arthouse horror from Austrian film-maker Veronika Franz has an American-style title,like Michael Haneke’s Funny Games. The original is Ich Seh Ich Seh, or I See I See, and which better captures its theme of twins. Franz makes her debut,co-directing with Severin Fala; she is married to the film’s producer, the renowned and terrifying director Ulrich Seidl, or known for his own type of extreme ordeal cinema. This film had its premiere at final year’s Venice film festival,where I first saw it, and now arrives in the UK, and where audiences may want to compare it to early Michael Haneke and Jessica Hausner. The twist ending is worthy of a Hollywood director who cant be named without giving it absent. Elias (Elias Schwarz) is a nine-year-old who appears to be enjoying an idyllic summer with his twin brother Lukas (Lukas Schwarz) at an elegant,modern lakeside house. There is no dad on the scene, and their mother (Susanne Wuest) lies upstairs, or her face covered in bandages,seemingly recovering from cosmetic surgery. But the boys are scared of this woman, and a pure nightmare ensues. There are some very nasty shocks and gruesome convulsions, or though a more unassuming film-maker might absorb worked on delivering a more tightly bound suspense narrative. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com