Why did the Austrian version get the Criterion release, when the American version has a better cast...

especially when he acts like he isn't a junkie

pretentious =/= pretending

We have a term for that, "Bildungsbürger". You know, extremely high-brow people who think anything but classical music is noise, people who say that T. Mann's books are good, who know nothing but their sheltered upper class life, who think that humanities are inherently more relevant than science, stuff like that.

You're an ignorant swine who's never read/listened to anything he's written or talk about. He is an absolute master who understands the psychological power of film better than anyone working today.

Original is better. It feels much more like a traditional horror film. The actors are also more subtle in their performances which is more fitting with the theme of the movie. Only thing the remake improves is the camera quality and the target audience.

That's a bit silly. Haneke's favorite films are films like Psycho, Mirror or A Woman Under the Influence. Directors he admires are directors like Bresson, Chaplin or Tarkovsky. If it was like you said he would only have the most obscure avangarde films listed as his favorites.
Sure he doesn't like Tarantino flicks, but his approach and thoughts are most certainly not from an ignorant blind perspective.

>He is an absolute master who understands the psychological power of film better than anyone working today.
>dude you can't rewind violence in real life!
Go watch some less embarassing shit like Eli Roth's stuff or Serbian Film.

>If it was like you said he would only have the most obscure avangarde films listed as his favorites.
No, it wouldn't. In fact, most of those are well-renowned and/or time-proven classics. Just not the most obvious stuff like Kubrick or Citizen Kane and that is what a Bildungsbürger would watch.
Obscure avantgarde is too tasteless and crass for their tastes. Just like with their music, they enjoy what makes them appear classy.

How does enjoying a film like Psycho make you appear "classy"?
He also loves Salo, how is that not "tasteless and crass" for him then?

>the American version has a better cast, and better performances almost across the board?
I disagree.

How is he pretentious? Sounds to me like you just don’t like the movie, and are using a bunch of bullshit justifications, while getting super defensive, instead of either just saying that you didn’t like the movie, or closing the tab?