The White Ribbon
Wow, I finally got to see The White Ribbon. I have been waiting a while to see this one. I can say that Michael Haneke's Palm D'or winner is brilliant filmmaking and one of the best films of 2009 (even though I saw it today it is one of the best films of last year).
The film is shot in glorious black and white by Christopher Berger. The story takes place in a German village a few years before World War I. Strange and bad things are happening in the village. The doctor's horse trips over a wire in the doctor's yard severely injuring the man. But how did the wire get there? A farmer's wife dies in a work related accident. The young son of the baron is beaten up and tortured. A barn burns down. The mentally challenged son of the town's midwife is even more severely hurt than the baron's son. There is also incest and terrible beatings of children. What can I say? This is heavy stuff. But who is doing all of these horrible things. The incest and beatings are clear. But the other things are not.
I can say that with the exception of the teacher (who in an older version is the narrator) all of the men in this town are horrid! The women are submissive and most of the children are not treated well. But this film is more than a who done it. It is about the root of evil. And at the end there is no clear answer. I have my theories and they may change as I think more about the film.
Haneke does a marvelous job at directing this film (and he wrote the intelligent screenplay as well). The above mentioned Berger is also fantastic. All of the actors are wonderful. I am not familiar with most of them (only Ulrich Tucker as the baron and Susanne Lothar as the midwife). But that doesn't matter.
There is one scene in the film that is so verbally violent that it makes a physical punch seem like nothing. I had my mouth open after that scene. And, yes, I can see how this story is about the seeds of Nazism. There is so much more I can say about this film but I am a bit tired.
I will say that I will only recommend this film to those of you who want to see something challenging, something that will make you think for a long time. I am already looking forward to seeing it on DVD. If you are looking for something easy then forget this one. But if you want your mind to get a workout then see The White Ribbon as soon as possible.
The film is shot in glorious black and white by Christopher Berger. The story takes place in a German village a few years before World War I. Strange and bad things are happening in the village. The doctor's horse trips over a wire in the doctor's yard severely injuring the man. But how did the wire get there? A farmer's wife dies in a work related accident. The young son of the baron is beaten up and tortured. A barn burns down. The mentally challenged son of the town's midwife is even more severely hurt than the baron's son. There is also incest and terrible beatings of children. What can I say? This is heavy stuff. But who is doing all of these horrible things. The incest and beatings are clear. But the other things are not.
I can say that with the exception of the teacher (who in an older version is the narrator) all of the men in this town are horrid! The women are submissive and most of the children are not treated well. But this film is more than a who done it. It is about the root of evil. And at the end there is no clear answer. I have my theories and they may change as I think more about the film.
Haneke does a marvelous job at directing this film (and he wrote the intelligent screenplay as well). The above mentioned Berger is also fantastic. All of the actors are wonderful. I am not familiar with most of them (only Ulrich Tucker as the baron and Susanne Lothar as the midwife). But that doesn't matter.
There is one scene in the film that is so verbally violent that it makes a physical punch seem like nothing. I had my mouth open after that scene. And, yes, I can see how this story is about the seeds of Nazism. There is so much more I can say about this film but I am a bit tired.
I will say that I will only recommend this film to those of you who want to see something challenging, something that will make you think for a long time. I am already looking forward to seeing it on DVD. If you are looking for something easy then forget this one. But if you want your mind to get a workout then see The White Ribbon as soon as possible.
posted by Film Fanatic | 7:45 PM
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