Benny's Video: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{Short description|1992  Austrian-Swiss  psychological thriller film by  Michael Haneke}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Benny's Video

| image = BennysVideo.jpg

| image_size =

| border =

| alt =

| caption =

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| cinematography = [[Christian Berger]]

| editing = Marie Homolkova

| studio = {{unbulleted list|[[Lang Film]]<br />|Wega Film}}

| distributor = Wega Film

| released = {{Film date|df=y|1992|05|13|[[1992 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]]|1992|09|12|[[Toronto International Film Festival|TIFF]]}}

| runtime = 110 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 109:47--><ref>{{cite web|title=''BENNY'S VIDEO'' (18)|url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/bennys-video-1970-1|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131017061453/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/bennys-video-1970-1|archive-date=17 October 2013|work=ICA Projects|publisher=[[British Board of Film Classification]]|date=9 July 1993|accessdate=16 October 2013}}</ref>

| country = Austria<br{{unbulleted />list|Austria|Switzerland}}

| language = German

}}

'''''Benny's Video''''' is a 1992<!--Because [[Austria|Austrian]]film is a co-[[Switzerland|Swiss]]production between multiple countries, they need not be listed here per WP Manual of Style for films--> [[Psychological thriller|psychological thriller filmhorror]]{{sfn|Paszylk|2009|p=193}} film directed by [[Michael Haneke]] and set instarring [[ViennaArno Frisch]]., The[[Angela plotWinkler]], ofand the[[Ulrich filmMühe]]. centersSet onin Benny ([[Arno FrischVienna]]), it centers on Benny, a teenager who views much of his life as distilled through video images, and his well-to-do parents Anna ([[Angela Winkler]]) and Georg ([[Ulrich Mühe]]), who enable Benny's focus on video cameras and images. The film won the [[FIPRESCI]] Award at the 1993 [[European Film Awards]].<ref name="superiorpics">{{Cite web |url=http://www.superiorpics.com/michael_haneke/ |title=Michael Haneke |accessdate=2012-03-24 |work=superiorpics |archive-date=27 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200527173513/https://www.superiorpics.com/michael_haneke/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Plot==

Teenage Benny is obsessed with film recordings and cameras. His emotionally absent parents, Georg and Anna, provide him with televisions, cassette players, and recording devices to encourage their son's hobby, seemingly unaware of his fascination with filmed violence. Benny repeatedly views a [[Home movie|home video]] he shot on a European farm, which captures the slaughter of a pig with a [[captive bolt pistol]].

The film opens with a home video taken on a European farm of the slaughter of a pig with a [[captive bolt pistol]]. The video rewinds to play the moment in slow motion, which emphasizes the hand-held barrel against the pig's skull and the [[Cartridge (firearms)|cartridge]] explosion. A party centered on a game called Pilot and Passengers is broken up by Georg and Anna when they return home. Eva, their daughter who lives separately from them, is the host of the party, and it is revealed through the questioning of Georg and Anna's son, Benny, that Eva has taken advantage of her parents' planned absence to host the impromptu party in their house.▼

▲The film opens with a home video taken on a European farm of the slaughter of a pig with a [[captive bolt pistol]]. The video rewinds to play the moment in slow motion, which emphasizes the hand-held barrel against the pig's skull and the [[Cartridge (firearms)|cartridge]] explosion. A party centered on a game called [[Airplane game|Pilot and Passengers]] is broken up by Georg and Anna when they return home. Eva, their daughter who lives separately from them, is the host of the party, and it is revealed through the questioning of Georg and Anna's son, Benny, that Eva has taken advantage of her parents' planned absence to host the impromptu party in their house.

While his parents are away for the weekend, Benny invites a girl (Ingrid Stassner) he has seen outside the local [[video store]] to his home. He shows her the video of the pig slaughter, and they talk about the film. She asks him if he made the film himself, then asks how it was seeing the pig die, and if he has ever seen a real dead person. Benny replies that he has not, and that the corpses in movies are all fake. He then unveils and loads the slaughtering gun. He holds it against his chest, and dares the girl to discharge it. When she refuses, he calls her a coward. He holds it against her chest, and when he hesitates, she calls him a coward also. He fires the gun, and she falls. Her falling reveals a video monitor, on which we see her crawling away from Benny and completely out of frame. We then see Benny running to reload the gun and returning to shoot her a second time, the girl crawling back partially into frame, and finally Benny reloading and firing a third time, this time killing her.▼

▲WhileWhen hisGeorg parentsand areAnna awaydepart again for the weekend, Benny invites a girl (Ingrid Stassner) he has seen outside the local [[video store]] to his home. He shows her the video of the pig slaughter, and they talk about the film. She asks him if he made the film himself, then asks how it was seeing the pig die, and if he has ever seen a real dead person. Benny replies that he has not, and that the corpses in movies are all fake. He then unveils and loads the slaughtering gun. He holds it against his chest, and dares the girl to discharge it. When she refuses, he calls her a coward. He holds it against her chest, and when he hesitates, she calls him a coward also. He fires the gun, and she falls. Her falling reveals a video monitor, on which we see her crawling away from Benny and completely out of frame. We then see Benny running to reload the gun and returning to shoot her a second time, the girl crawling back partially into frame, and finally Benny reloading and firing a third time, this time killing her.

After choir practice, Benny returns home. There, as the weekend begins, Benny covers the girl's body and goes through her school bag, arranges an evening out with friends, then moves the girl's body to a closet and cleans up the blood. Some of the cleanup is seen through a video monitor while Benny edits a video of the experience. Benny goes out to a dance club and stays overnight at his friend's house. On his way home, he goes to a cinema, window shops, and gets his hair shorn to the scalp.▼

▲After choir practice, Benny returns home. There, as the weekend begins, Benny covers the girl's body and goes through her school bag, arranges an evening out with friends, then moves the girl's body to a closet and cleans up the blood. Some of the cleanup is seen through a video monitor while Benny edits a video of the experience. Benny goes out to a dance club and stays overnight at his friend's house. On his way home, he goes to a cinema, window shops, and gets his hair shorn to the scalp.

After his parents return, his father harangues Benny about his haircut, asking if Benny had any thought about how others would react to him now. Later on, while the family is watching the news in Benny's room, Benny switches the signal to the video he has made of himself killing the girl. Benny reveals the body in his closet, and Georg removes the videotape. He asks if anyone else knows about this, and through careful grilling finds that there are no witnesses.

ClearlyAfter disturbedhis parents return, thehis father andharangues motherBenny leaveabout his haircut, asking if Benny had any thought about how others would react to him now. Later on, while the family is watching the news in Benny's room, Benny switches the signal to the video he has made of himself killing the girl. Benny reveals the body in his closet, and Georg removes the videotape. He asks if anyone else knows about this, and through careful questioning finds that there are no witnesses. In the living room, Georg dispassionately lists to Anna the options they have: either to alert the authorities, with a resulting judgment of parental neglect and placement of their son in a psychiatric institution, or to destroy the evidence. AnnaBenny urgesrecords thattheir anyconversation optionas chosenthey mustultimately bedecide carefullyto followed[[dismemberment|dismember]] tothe itsbody into small pieces and flush it down the enddrain.

Anna takes Benny away on vacation to [[Egypt]], and the ever-present video camera captures them both in their hotel, in the village, touring ancient tombs, watching sail-gliders at the beach, and even a private moment of Anna in the bathroom. There are several phone calls from a booth in the post office, with Benny and Anna separately taking the phone. Benny seems barely affected by the murder he committed, and he seems unable to fathom why his mother breaks down in sobs at one point during the vacation. When they return home after six days, the apartment is clean of any trace of the girl. Georg, who had stayed at home, succeeded in cutting the body into small enough pieces to be flushed down the toilet or otherwise removed. That evening, Georg asks Benny why he killed her, and Benny replies, "I don't know. ...I wanted to see what it's like, possibly". BennyGeorg shrugsasks inhow answerit towas, Georgand askingBenny howshrugs itin wasanswer.

On video, anothera pilot and passengers appear in thea party hosted by Eva, this time with Georg and Anna's permission. In reality, Anna and Georg watch the video with Benny and discuss how well their daughter does playing the game. Later, Georg and Anna attend the concert of the choir Benny is in. Again in reality, Benny's recording of his parents discussing the disposal of the body is shown and a voice-over asks, "Why did you come to us now?" Benny is being interviewed by policemen, and he answers merely, "Because". With no following questions, Benny asks if he can leave now. Afterwards, Benny meets Georg and Anna in the hall and, after a long moment, says, "Entschuldigung" (translated as "Sorry"). On video, his parents are seen escorted by police officers.

==Cast==

{{cast list|

* [[Arno Frisch]] as Benny

* [[Angela Winkler]] as Anna, Benny's mother

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* Hanspeter Müller

* Shelley Kästner

}}

==ReceptionAnalysis==

Writing in ''The Pleasure and Pain of Cult Horror Films: An Historical Survey'' (2009), Bartłomiej Paszylk notes that ''Benny's Video'' captures the phenomenon of the "[[video]] culture" that began in the 1980s and was continuing to develop at the time the film was made.{{sfn|Paszylk|2009|p=193}}

''Benny's Video'' has a 64% approval rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] and a 60/100 on [[Metacritic]].<ref>{{Citation|title=Benny's Video (1992)|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bennys-video-1992|access-date=2019-08-21}}</ref>▼

Some critics and viewers, including filmmaker [[Maximilian Le Cain]], note that, despite Benny's act of violence, he remains a sympathetic character, and that the film ultimately thematically indicts his disaffected parents.{{sfn|Paszylk|2009|pages=192–193}} Paszylk suggests that the film is structured in a way that makes it "tough to recognize the movie's true villain."{{sfn|Paszylk|2009|p=193}}

It earned an "honorable mention" nod from William Arnold of the ''[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]'' in his list of the best films of 1994.<ref>{{cite news|last=Arnold|first=William|date=December 30, 1994|title='94 Movies: Best and Worst|newspaper=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|page=20|edition=Final}}</ref>

Film scholar Catherine Wheatley observes that the film prominently features a "metatextual troubling of levels of reality" through its aesthetic integration of Benny's handheld camcorder footage, sound, and static cameras, rendering the audience in an "extremely distanced, 'objective' relationship to the narrative."{{sfn|Wheatley|2009|pages=74–75}}

==Release==

''Benny's Video'' premiered at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] on 13 May 1992. It subsequently opened at the [[New York Film Festival]] on 28 September 1993.<ref name=holden/>

===Critical response===

[[Stephen Holden]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' praised the film, writing: "What gives the film a chilly authenticity is the creepy performance of Arno Frisch in the title role. Cool and unsmiling, with a dark inscrutable gaze, his Benny is the apotheosis of what the author [[George W. S. Trow]] has called "the cold child," or an unfeeling young person whose detachment and short attention span have been molded by television. Or in other words, Mr. Trow adds, "A sadist.""<ref name=holden>{{cite web|work=[[The New York Times]]|last=Holden|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Holden|date=28 September 1992|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/28/movies/review-film-festival-video-violence-turns-real-for-a-boy.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130902051152/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/28/movies/review-film-festival-video-violence-turns-real-for-a-boy.html#selection-421.0-421.395|archive-date=2 September 2013|title=Review/Film Festival; Video Violence Turns Real for a Boy}}</ref> The film earned an "honorable mention" nod from William Arnold of the ''[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]'' in his list of the best films of 1994.<ref>{{cite news|last=Arnold|first=William|date=December 30, 1994|title='94 Movies: Best and Worst|newspaper=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|page=20|edition=Final}}</ref>

Writing for [[Film4]], Matt Glasby described the film as "the cinema of dread rather than of surprise; a curtain-twitching thriller (sans thrills) about how evil creeps in unseen when all seems safe, still and banal."<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Film4]]|title=Benny's Video (1992) - Film Review|last=Glasby|first=Matt|date=6 May 2006|url-status=dead|url=http://www.film4.com/reviews/1992/bennys-video|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630000412/http://www.film4.com/reviews/1992/bennys-video|archive-date=30 June 2012}}</ref>

Eric Henderson, reviewing the film for ''[[Slant Magazine]]'' in 2006, derided it, deeming it "a smug, contemptuous, passive-aggressive attack on the dehumanizing effects of media, without even the common decency to offer shrill [[sensationalism]] to punch up its subsequently feckless, reactionary, pomo assertions."<ref>{{cite web|work=[[Slant Magazine]]|last=Henderson|first=Eric|date=3 May 2006|title=Review: Benny's Video|url-status=live|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/bennys-video/|archive-date=23 July 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230723180719/https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/bennys-video/}}</ref>

▲''Benny's{{As Video''of|July 2023}}, the film has a 64% approval rating on the internet [[review aggregator]] [[Rotten Tomatoes]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bennys_video|work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|title=Benny's Video|access-date=July 23, 2023}}</ref> and a 60/100 on [[Metacritic]].<ref>{{Citationcite web|work=[[Metacritic]]|title=Benny's Video (1992)|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/bennys-video-1992|access-date=2019-08-2123 July 2023}}</ref>

===Home media===

[[Kino Lorber|Kino International]] released the film on [[DVD]] in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://worldcat.org/title/69017514|work=[[WorldCat]]|title=Benny's Video|url-status=live|archive-date=23 July 2023|archive-url=https://archive.today/20230723174120/https://worldcat.org/title/69017514}}</ref> [[The Criterion Collection]] released the film on [[Blu-ray]] in December 2022 as part of a Michael Haneke trilogy comprising his first three films, alongside ''[[The Seventh Continent (1989 film)|The Seventh Continent]]'' (1989) and ''[[71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance]]'' (1994).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/blu-ray-review-michael-haneke-trilogy-joins-the-criterion-collection/|work=[[Slant Magazine]]|date=15 December 2022|title=Blu-ray Review: Michael Haneke: Trilogy Joins the Criterion Collection|author1=Croce, Fernando F.|author2=Henderson, Eric|author3=Smith, Derek| url-status=live|archive-date=16 December 2022|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221216191704/https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/blu-ray-review-michael-haneke-trilogy-joins-the-criterion-collection/}}</ref>

==References==

{{Reflist}}

==Sources==

* {{cite book|last= Paszylk|first= Bartłomiej|year=2009|title=The Pleasure and Pain of Cult Horror Films: An Historical Survey|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=978-0-786-45327-6}}

* {{cite book|last=Wheatley|first=Catherine|year=2009|title=Michael Haneke's Cinema: The Ethic of the Image|publisher=Berghahn Books|location=New York City, New York|isbn=978-0-857-45546-8}}

==External links==

* {{IMDb title|0103793|Benny's Video}}

* {{Rotten Tomatoes|2=Benny's Video}}

* {{allMovie title|13168205}}

* {{TCMDb title|id=520223}}

{{Austrian submission for Academy Awards}}

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[[Category:1992 horror films]]

[[Category:1992 drama films]]

[[Category:Arabic-languageAustrian crime films]]▼

[[Category:Austrian horror films]]

[[Category:SwissAustrian horrorindependent films]]

[[Category:1990sFilms German-languageabout filmsdysfunctional families]]

[[Category:1990s English-language films]]▼

▲[[Category:Arabic-language films]]

[[Category:1990s French-language films]]▼

[[Category:Films directed by Michael Haneke]]▼

[[Category:Films about filmmaking]]

[[Category:Films about murder]]

[[Category:Films about security and surveillance]]

[[Category:Films about snuff films]]

▲[[Category:Films directed by Michael Haneke]]

[[Category:Films set in Egypt]]

[[Category:Films set in Vienna]]

[[Category:Films shot in Vienna]]

[[Category:AustrianSwiss independentcrime films]]

[[Category:Swiss horror films]]

[[Category:Swiss independent films]]

[[Category:Films1990s about snuffGerman-language films]]

▲[[Category:1990s English-language films]]

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[[Category:English-language horror films]]