Abstract

This article has as main objectives to raise some issues related to the representation of violence and the limits of the representation of violence in the films Benny’s Video (1992) and Funny Games (1997), directed by Michael Haneke. What is violence? How is violence represented and what are the limits of the representation of this violence in the films Benny’s Video (1992) and Funny Games (1997), directed by Michael Haneke? What is the importance of the on screen and the off screen in the limits of the representation of violence in these films?
We will try to answer these questions through the following steps:
a) at first, calling the concept of “violence” from the point of view of philosopher Hannah Arendt. Although “violence” and “power” are two concepts that often go hand in hand, the author draws attention to the differences that apart them “Power and violence are contrary; when one of them absolutely rules, the other is absent. Violence arises where power is threatened, but abandoned to its own course ends in the disappearance of power.” (Arendt, 2014: 60).
b) in a second moment, analyzing the representation of “violence” in two films directed by Michael Haneke - the films Benny’s Video (1992) and Funny Games (1997) - considerably representative to detect patterns in this subject;
c) finally, analyzing the importance of the on screen and the off screen to reflect on the limits of the representation of violence in these films.