Giallo...Funny Games...

Giallo is an Italian word, meaning "Yellow". It was the color that was used on the covers of early Murder Mystery novels, especially from authors like Agatha Christie.

The plot of the Giallo is the same as a "whodunit".

As early as the 40s, The Giallo concept was transferred to the silver screen, combining elements of the Thriller, Slasher, and  Noir.

Giallo films are known for being more brutal than their American Slasher film counterpart, even the earlier ones, which they could sort of be compared to.....

Most are inspired by Art Deco and Pop Art...So there are some interesting combinations of colors and patterns, which are reminiscent of the psychedelia of the 60s.

Two artistic masterpieces are Dario Argento's Suspiria and Mario Bava's Phenomena.
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Giallo the movie was an attempt to put the genre into a modern context. Unfortunately, the result... was below average...

The actresses...Modern actresses familiar with the acting requirements of the movie industry today...Which is to say...Stiff and limited...Were just that... Stiff and limited in their range...Not charismatic as are the true Giallo actresses.

Instead of feeling like an omnipotent third person watching an event fold in real time... Most of the scenes felt staged...

Also...There were too many stories trying to be told, all competing for the audience's attention...

Giallo was more about finding the killer...Instead of finding who the killer IS...It is the mystery and intrigue of the Giallo genre that is it's important aspect...

This was not Adrien Brody's moment par excellance...But it wasn't his worse, either. It was somewhere inbetween. Given the short range of the script he was given, of the character he was chosen to portray, he did a good job. He has a few shining moments...

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The remake of Funny Games, starring Michael Pitt and Naomi Watts does justice to an unsatisfying original...(Both directed by Tim Roth).

Funny Games is about a home invasion...Which takes place...Randomly...Meaninglessly...Pointlessly...

But within all of the random chaos Tim Roth has a message...

Something like... That we are...The audience... As culpable as the people who perpetrate these sick acts...We shape the fates of the victims...Because it is what we go to the theaters for...It is what we goad the producers, the directors, the screenwriters, and the actors to create...Situations in which pain is prolonged unnecessarily...Because it pleases "Us"...The collective audience...

The most unsettling part of the movie is the soundtrack...It is an oxymoronic blend of classical music and cacophonous thrash metal...A band called Naked City creates the unsettling music for the film's soundtrack...Prolonged high pitched screams, a Sludge-ish guitar sound ...It is enough to induce nausea...