Charming and brutal

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

In this exquisitely photographed black-and-white film we meet the inhabitants of Eichwald, a small rural North German community, shortly before the outbreak of the Great War, as seen through the eyes of an 'outsider' young schoolteacher (Christian Friedel), and documentary-style narrated by Ernst Jacobi. The baron (Ulrich Tukur) is a powerful man; many of the local inhabitants work on his estate as tenant labourers. Many of the people have large families with many children. We quickly pick up that resentment is simmering among some of the kids. They are often treated badly by the overly strict adults. In particular, it is the children of the Protestant pastor (Burghart Klaussner) who get harshly treated, even physically and psychologically abused by their strict, sanctimonious father. It is the pastor who ties white ribbons to his children to remind them daily that they have to lead pure lives. It is a bitter irony that few of the adults would practise what they preach...The apparent bucolic tranquility is shattered when the doctor's horse runs into a trip wire and the doctor sustains injuries to land him in hospital. Shortly thereafter the young son of the baron gets abducted and beaten by unknown assailants. And then there is the case of arson on the baron's estate. Before long a mood of suspicion and paranoia pervades the community.One of the strong points of the film is that the focus is not on solving the mystery of who was responsible for the attacks against the 'establishment', but rather to let the drama subtly - and ambiguously - unfold, leaving us with important questions about the roles of religion, the social order and authoritarianism, and the nature of evil.I have to re-emphasize the truly splendid monochrome cinematography; particularly some of the indoor shots and snowy landscapes look as if they should be exhibited as works of art in a museum. The soundtrack is wonderful too; it effectively complements the austerity of the more sombre scenes, yet also the ebullience when enjoying the 'end of harvest' festival. The acting of the professional and non-professional cast is remarkable. It is particularly the young cast that stands out with their truly natural performances. Young actors that should be mentioned are Martin (Leonard Proxauf), Klara (Maria-Victoria Dragus) and Gustav (Thibalt Sérié). Credit to the casting directors; apparently they have interviewed more than 7000 kids for these roles. Serious movie-lovers will enjoy the 'The White Ribbon'; it is highly recommended. My score: 9.5/10.

In The White Ribbon, Haneke's mastery of building a quiet, unassuming dread is evident. It starts almost cartoonish, as an elderly school teacher recounts the events of the fabled village that have faded into legend and obscurity. He narrates via voice-over as the doctor's horse is suddenly tripped and he is flung from its seat. Who could have put it there? Little things begin happening that plunge us deeper and deeper into the mystery. Birds are found impaled with scissors. Children are found strung up and beaten. A disabled boy has his eyes gouged out. The villagers look at each other, and then avert their eyes because it could be any of them. In the midst of the crowd is the school teacher, who attempts to get to the bottom of the incidents while also wooing the young Eva. It is not entirely a whodunit. Haneke prefers not to give straight answers, and the voice-over admits that these events are not as crystal clear as he once experienced them. Perhaps he is the film's straightest character, and this slightly smoothens its edge. In one instance, in the period of their one year engagement, he plans a lake-side picnic for Eva and him, but within the context of the village's violence incidents, she does not feel safe about being all alone with him. His response to this establishes the moral pillar of the film from where everything else is judged, and he is the one to make the final accusation. This subplot does not entirely fit within the rest of the events; their quiet, giggling conversations and simple romance is so removed from the rest of the simmering tension. Haneke, I think, seeks to invite viewers to align themselves with this bespectacled every-man, and then harshly shakes his head at this decision. But even without the connotations of the rise of fascism and terrorism as Haneke has been so outspoken on (see how the narrator resolves to dig for the roots of national socialism, not fascism, and how he is suggested to have survived World War 2 - and then link the ages of the children to the date), it is a tremendously disturbing film, yet plausible. Haneke at first distances us from these events via these still long shots that do not outright display the atrocities that are being committed, but rather hint at them, as the muffled sounds of a beating emerge from behind a closed door. And then it becomes more evident, but revealed with great terror. Kurti peers behind a closed door to see his father and sister against each other, and subtly she slides down her dress while spinning a alternate explanation. When the steward's little boy presents a stolen bird to compensate for the one impaled, he is beaten senseless for being too young to understand the implications of his crime. The last shot gradually cuts away to a distance until the village is framed by the black bars of the gate, but Haneke does not ever leave these confines. He suggests that in such a closed environment it becomes so easy to stir up these hypocrisies and cycles of repression until we get...something beyond morally compromising. Haneke does attempt to draw comparisons between the terror that is political versus that of a religious nature. There are murmurs of a mother's death in the sawmills, and how the baron is dismissive of this, and how the villagers retaliate namelessly. And then there is the hypocrisy of the pastor, who preaches an absolute love and behind closed doors, practices an absolute discipline of faith that is theorised to be the root cause of these incidents. But it is also suggested that they share the same root problem, a human tendency to mutate into absolutism and authoritarianism without any opposition. How else will children learn if not from their parental figures? In this little village, there is no other answer.

a film about the roots of evil. precise. fascinating. using the terror in a special manner. a village. and few crimes. the children's faces. the adults ambiguity. and the tension like a fog. a film who reminds Ingmar Bergman's universe but who propose a different perspective about the angry who change, step by step, the life of a community for remind the truth about it. an useful parable about the evil who grow up in the middle of serenity. and a splendid film in which each scene becomes key for define the every day reality. a parable. not original but useful. because it is picture of fury who seems be part of accidents in ordinary place. and who becomes the rule.

Directed by Michael Haneke (Funny Games (both versions), Hidden (Caché), Amour), this German/Italian/Polish film was listed in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book, it was rated well by critics, and I was hoping it would be worthy of recommendations. Basically in 1913, fifteen years before the breakout of the First World War, in the small Protestant village of Eichwald, Germany, a series of mysterious and unfortunate incidents are taking place. These occurrences include rider is thrown from their horse after it tripped on a wire, rotted planks cause a woman to fall to her death, the son of The Baron (Ulrich Tukur) is hung upside down in a mill, parents of village children are slapping and bullying their own offspring, a man is being cruel to his long-suffering lover, another man sexually abuses his own daughter, and many people disappearing. The School Teacher (Christian Friedel), who is immature and inexperienced, and is courting a nanny of the Baron's household, is narrating the story as an Old Man (Ernst Jacobi) and investigating the cause and connection of these accidents and crimes. There are pubescent children in the village with guilty consciences, The Pastor (Burghart Klaußner), he tries to reassure them, and gets them to wear a white ribbon, as a sign of the innocence and purity, but these children may in fact be the cause and at the heart of these strange circumstances, and it can only end badly for many characters. Also starring Leonie Benesch as Eva, Ursina Lardi as Marie-Louise, The Baroness, Fion Mutert as Sigi, Michael Kranz as The Tutor, Steffi Kühnert as Anna, The Pastor's Wife and Maria-Victoria Dragus as Klara. With having to read subtitles as well I did get very confused with this film, I did see the strange things happening and characters getting suspicious and paranoid, but I'm not sure I can fully agree with critics giving the film four stars out of five, or it being in the 1001 Movies book, however, it is not a bad film, it was interesting in parts, so overall it's an alright period mystery drama. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language, and it won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. Worth watching, in my opinion!