Michael Haneke's Funny Games

At The New Republic Jacob Rubin and Christopher Orr debate the merits of Funny Games, the new film--actually a remake of his own 1997 film--by Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke (director of The Piano Teacher and Cache).

Rubin calls it "a brutal, manipulative film" but suggests "there is much value in Funny Games," while Orr states that it "is hardly the first violent, sadistic film to present itself as a critique of violence and sadism in film ... yet Haneke's film is ... perhaps the most repellent."

Having seen most of Haneke's recent films I'm interested in seeing this but I generally avoid violent films. Perhaps I'll borrow the original from my library first.