Directed by: Michael Haneke
Run time: 144 min
In a feudal northern German village set before World War I, tragedy is happening. This looks like an ideal village with the Baron (Ulrich Tukur), the town’s principal employer and landowner; the doctor, a widower with two children and an interesting relationship with the midwife (Susanne Lothar); the steward (Josef Bierbichler); a tenant farmer (Branko Samarovski); and, perhaps most important, the pastor (Burghart Klaussner).
It all begins when the village doctor (Rainer Bock) is thrown after his horse runs into a trip wire set on the road to his home, then the farmer's wife is killed in a saw mill, the Baron's son is beaten, an infant catches a fever after the window in the house is being opened and one children with down syndrome got beaten harshly, and on it goes.
There are no suspects (or even evidence) but there are few clues, like some children who suspiciously groups together and visit people who were injured and saying that they are just visiting or the farmer's son who secretly blame Baron for the death of her mother in the sawmill or the repressed doctor's lover (a.k.a the midwife) who has to endure the verbal abuse the doctor gave her.
But it is not who did it that matters (is it no one? or everyone?), but why they did it. Michael Haneke shows that cruel and cold upbringing could plant seed for aggression in their kids. What is being shown is the doors to the houses of the village inhabitants; the denial in one house, female and child abuse and indifference.
One thing is sure, the village parents are harsh to their kids, from just a cold look with grammatically correct sentences they deliver in the dinner table to the cruel beating they had. It seems that corporal punishment and humiliation is a part of parenting there. Why were they being punished? Not because they are terrorist or something, but because they are late for dinner and other minor mistakes which doesn't deserve to be humiliated or punished at all.
Could it be that the repressed children stage some tragedy in the village? Or is there anyone else who did it? Will these so called 'repressed' children will pass this behavior to the next generation? Is that the social order that is present in this film has vanished from the earth?
The viewers will be left with no answer for this (and they have to seek it for them self, a good thing to do), and that what makes this film is good since it explore the psychological, educational and religious roots in the small village as a sample for a whole nation at that time.
Not only the stunning black and white cinematography reminding you of Ingmar Bergman's movies or some good old photos, but the acting is superb. The absence of marquee name makes the character looks natural. The story itself was narrated from the teacher's point of view (Ernst Jacobi). In the film we see his young version (Christian Friedel) as a mild and soft teacher, perhaps one character that looks normal than the whole village.
What is The White Ribbon? The priest makes his oldest son (Leonard Proxauf) and daughter (Maria-Victoria Dragus) wear white ribbons as symbol of innocence and shame at the same time.
However if you are looking for a silver lining, there is this one scene where the priest's son is giving his father a new bird so his father will not be sad. Trying to compose himself so he doesn't cry, the priest felt touched by that simple act of kindness posed by his own son whom he rarely hug or kissed.
PS: This film won Golden Palm, FIPRESCI Prize and Cinema Prize of the French National Education System at 2009 Cannes Film Festival, beating Un prophète. It also won 2010 ASC Award for Christian Berger in Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases.
It all begins when the village doctor (Rainer Bock) is thrown after his horse runs into a trip wire set on the road to his home, then the farmer's wife is killed in a saw mill, the Baron's son is beaten, an infant catches a fever after the window in the house is being opened and one children with down syndrome got beaten harshly, and on it goes.
There are no suspects (or even evidence) but there are few clues, like some children who suspiciously groups together and visit people who were injured and saying that they are just visiting or the farmer's son who secretly blame Baron for the death of her mother in the sawmill or the repressed doctor's lover (a.k.a the midwife) who has to endure the verbal abuse the doctor gave her.
But it is not who did it that matters (is it no one? or everyone?), but why they did it. Michael Haneke shows that cruel and cold upbringing could plant seed for aggression in their kids. What is being shown is the doors to the houses of the village inhabitants; the denial in one house, female and child abuse and indifference.
One thing is sure, the village parents are harsh to their kids, from just a cold look with grammatically correct sentences they deliver in the dinner table to the cruel beating they had. It seems that corporal punishment and humiliation is a part of parenting there. Why were they being punished? Not because they are terrorist or something, but because they are late for dinner and other minor mistakes which doesn't deserve to be humiliated or punished at all.
Could it be that the repressed children stage some tragedy in the village? Or is there anyone else who did it? Will these so called 'repressed' children will pass this behavior to the next generation? Is that the social order that is present in this film has vanished from the earth?
The viewers will be left with no answer for this (and they have to seek it for them self, a good thing to do), and that what makes this film is good since it explore the psychological, educational and religious roots in the small village as a sample for a whole nation at that time.
Not only the stunning black and white cinematography reminding you of Ingmar Bergman's movies or some good old photos, but the acting is superb. The absence of marquee name makes the character looks natural. The story itself was narrated from the teacher's point of view (Ernst Jacobi). In the film we see his young version (Christian Friedel) as a mild and soft teacher, perhaps one character that looks normal than the whole village.
What is The White Ribbon? The priest makes his oldest son (Leonard Proxauf) and daughter (Maria-Victoria Dragus) wear white ribbons as symbol of innocence and shame at the same time.
However if you are looking for a silver lining, there is this one scene where the priest's son is giving his father a new bird so his father will not be sad. Trying to compose himself so he doesn't cry, the priest felt touched by that simple act of kindness posed by his own son whom he rarely hug or kissed.
PS: This film won Golden Palm, FIPRESCI Prize and Cinema Prize of the French National Education System at 2009 Cannes Film Festival, beating Un prophète. It also won 2010 ASC Award for Christian Berger in Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases.
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