Benny's Video (1992)

A 14-year-old video enthusiast is so caught up in film fantasy that he can no longer relate to the real world, to such an extent that he commits murder and records an on-camera confession for his parents.

Director:

Michael Haneke

Writer:

Michael Haneke

Stars:

Arno Frisch, Angela Winkler, Ulrich Mühe

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Arno Frisch	...	Benny
Angela Winkler	...	Mutter
Ulrich Mühe	...	Vater
Ingrid Stassner	...	Mädchen
Stephanie Brehme	...	Evi
Stefan Polasek	...	Ricci
Christian Pundy
Max Berner
Hanspeter Müller
Shelley Kästner

Storyline

A 14-year-old video enthusiast is so caught up in film fantasy that he can no longer relate to the real world, to such an extent that he commits murder and records an on-camera confession for his parents.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | child uses a gun | video | gym | killer child | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Austria Switzerland

Language:

German English Arabic French

Release Date:

11 February 1993 (Norway)

Also Known As:

Bennys video

Filming Locations:

Austria

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bernard Lang,Langfilm,Wega Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Second part of Michael Haneke's "Glaciation Trilogy" also including Der siebente Kontinent (1989) and 71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls (1994).

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Goofs

When Benny leaves the phone booth in Egypt, the cameraman is visible in multiple window reflections.

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Quotes

[to Benny]
Vater: You mustn't lie. Is that clear? You can't afford to.

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Connections

References Another 48 Hrs. (1990)

User Reviews

Negativeland

In his second film of the "glaciation trilogy", Haneke once more hauntingly draws a torpid affluent society where the people live at cross purposes, where conservations are rare and toilsome, where communication is alienated to a technical process. Accordingly to that, the emotional life of the protagonists became stunted: Benny, after his "act", shows concernment only through surrogate actions, just like letting his hair cropped. The father immediately slyly pushes to damage mitigation, whereas only the mother indicates rudiments of emotion, though somehow tense. In a confusing blend of film and video images, Haneke creates a second level of reality, so to speak, where Benny's senseless "act" perfectly integrates in the horror pictures of the evening news and makes it open for question. At the same time, Haneke commits himself to no specific answer and denies any absolution. That is what makes this film so horrifying - there simply is no telling argument that makes a murderer out of a young boy.