March 2008 | blackfilm.com | features |FUNNY GAMES<br> An Interview with Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet  </style> <style type="text/css">  </style> <head> <title>blackfilm.com

FUNNY GAMES
An Interview with Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet
by Brad Balfour

March 24, 2008

Q: Are you concerned that some people in this wide audience that Haneke is trying to reach might not get what the film is going for and might look at it on a base level?

BC: Yes but what about all the people that will get it?

MP: I am a little worried that people will think [the violence] is cool.

BC: I don't think the film is that hip though. There's a section in the middle of the film that shows the aftermath of this violence, this long, static shot, that's not Tarantino. Nobody's going to watch that over and over again, that's what is so smart about Haneke.

MP: He makes a decision every time not to make it cool. Even when the woman is taking her clothes off, he makes the decision not to show things so hopefully that will come through to the audience.

Q: Since the original came out, there is a rise in the genre of "torture porn." Did you a philosophical discussion with the cast about the changes in film since then and about this new genre?

BC: That's just how ahead of his time that he is. He foresaw all that.

MP: It would be great if this came out in 1997 in English. Out of all his movies, to me, it's making an obvious statement about that type of filmmaking.

BC: I don't think we discussed it very much. It's very practical making a movie. You find the art in it before and after making the movie, but during it's too practical.

Q: How long was the shoot?

BC: Eight weeks.

Q: Michael, did you find it hard to make that break into the fourth wall, to look right at the camera?

MP: I think I got better at it. The first time I don't think is as good as when we did it later in the film. I didn't know at first exactly how to do it. When I watch the film now, what I did later was instead of making a decision to break the fourth wall, I just played it as though it's already been broken. At any point, I could just turn to it. It seemed to work better.

Q: How do you react to the rewind sequence?

BC: The whole movie is about manipulation. In that scene, he gives you what you want and then he takes it away. It's about building up a bloodlust in the audience. That scene is the only on screen violence in the film, but he gives that to you and then he takes it back.

Q: Do you find acting to be a little psychotic?

(Both laugh)

MP: It's a job. I think that it's important not to take it too seriously. It's all pretend. It's a strange job, it can be strange.

Q: How easy were these characters to turn off at the end of the day?

MP: It wasn't a very long shoot and we did most of it at a studio in Brooklyn. For me it was great, I just got into the car and went to work. I needed to stay in the character. I told my girlfriend that "I'm not here" and I just stayed in this character for the month and half that we shot it and once we finished, I just left it.

BC: I'm not a method actor however something interesting happened while I was making this movie. When you have gone out of your way to make a physical change, and while I didn't gain enough weight, I did gain some weight by drinking those shakes, which made me sick. I felt very unattractive and small. I think that in a strange way if you spend ten or twelve hours of your day devoted to whatever it is that you're doing, you can't help but take a little of it home if you intend to. I didn't intend to but I wish that I could've just taken a pair of glasses off and feel attractive again, but I couldn't.

Q: What did you feel about filming at the Hamptons?

BC: Do I think that the film is a statement against the upper class?

Q: Yes.

BC: Michael Haneke is upper class, and I think he has been most of his life. He goes to the opera every Friday in Vienna. Anyway, nowadays he is part of that class so he makes films about what he knows. If you look at any of his films, he has tremendous respect for all his characters, they are all smart. In "Cache," the poor Arab is just as intelligent as the rich, white man. He's really very generous, it's amazing.

Q: Did you guys have nightmares while shooting?

MP: No, for me, it's pretend. I try to stay away from taking it too seriously. I think it's very dangerous for an actor to take it too seriously because I think it could really damage you if you do that.

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