Michael Haneke Trilogy (DVD)

This three disc box set presents three early masterpieces, 'The Seventh Continent', 'Benny's Video' and '71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance'. Provocative, daring and visionary, Michael Haneke has established himself as one of the world's most distinctive and intelligent contemporary filmmakers. The Seventh Continent: Based on a true story, Haneke's first theatrical feature is a disturbing portrait of familial disintegration which he describes as a depiction of his native Austria's 'progressive emotional glaciation'. Set over a three year period, it documents how the mundane day to day routines of a middle class family alienate them from the world and each other until, suddenly and shockingly, their lives self-destruct. Addressing themes that would inform much of his later work - the breakdown of society, violence and the media - 'The Seventh Continent' is both intelligent and masterfully composed. Benny's Video: Acclaimed filmmaker Michael Haneke's disturbing film portrays the alienation of a young boy, whose experience of the world is refracted through the lens of his video camera and his television screen. Arno Frisch, later to play one of the psychopathic young men in Funny Games, plays the 14 year-old Benny, who brings a girl home to his parents' empty apartment where he commits a shocking act of casual violence. As with his later Funny Games, Haneke poses provocative and challenging questions about voyeurism and depictions of violence. 71 Fragments Of A Chronology Of Chance: Haneke's articulate critique of the isolating effects of western society, the media and television in particular, is composed of an intricate series of unrelated scenes, culminating in an apparently motiveless act of violence. Perfectly paced and executed, Haneke's skilful weaving of these tableaux into a coherent and compelling whole is mesmerising and strangely beautiful.

Theatrical Trailers
interviews with Michael Haneke