Irony - At the beginning the film there is an ironic contrast between what the audience can see and hear. For example the family are happily and calmly driving to there holiday home, with classical music being played in the car. However the music suddenly switches to loud punk and becomes non - diegetic sound which doesn't relate to whats going on in the scene. The family are unaware of this change in music genre, almost like its outside of "their world." Perhaps it was used to foreshadow the horror that was about to be experienced by this family.
Breaking the fourth wall - There are many occasions when the villain Paul breaks the fourth wall. One example is when he looks directly at the camera and asks the audience a question:
"What do you think? You think they stand a chance?" We learn very quickly that Paul has not only got control over the characters but also how the narrative of the film is played out too.
No Happy Ending - Every character in the film dies apart from the villains. This is a frustrating and uncomfortable experience for the audience as they may not be used to an "un - happy" ending. They also drag out each death, rather than just killing them off at once. The villains Paul and Peter are doing this for sheer entertainment, just like a game show but with darker motives.
"What if" - There is one point in the film where a scene rewinds itself, not allowing Anna to kill Paul and Peter. This creates a "what if" quality. For example, what if the "good guys" defeated the "bad guys" and escaped? However, Paul doesn't want to give the audience what they want or any glimmer of hope. He does this by ignoring whats known as "normal", cinematic conventions.
Not dressed to play the part? Interestingly the bad guys in Funny Games are wearing white. The colour white would usually be used to signify purity and innocence. This is far from what Paul and Peter are. This breaks the "norm" of how we use certain colours to symbolize a characters role within a film.
