White Ribbon, The
White Ribbon, The
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Synopsis

Instead of making a Holocaust movie and ensuring an Oscar, writer-director Michael Haneke went deeper, supposedly to the roots of fascism in pre-WWI Germany, and his film earned two Oscar nods (Foreign Language, Cinematography). In the case of The White Ribbon--an imposing black-and-white picture about a village in northern Germany ruled over by a landowner, a severe priest, and a lot of menace--well, it was nominated because it's a brilliantly shot and orchestrated film, not just a haunting mystery. The mystery being, who or what is responsible for all the violent events befalling the townspeople? And to what degree with they sacrifice freedom for safety? Starring Ulrich Tukur, Christian Friedel, Ernst Jacobi, and Ursina Lardi. In German with English subtitles.

Michael Haneke---Austria/Germany---2009---144 mins.

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  • Currently 2/5 Stars.
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   | Doris#1

Too dark and relentlessly mean. I hated the way the children are treated. And the sad conditions of the peasants.

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  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
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   | JohnH#1

The White Ribbon is a hard film to critique. It's what the French called a "well made piece." The photography is top notch. And the fact that the loose ends are left dangling didn't bother me. What did disturb me actually had nothing to do with the film. Everything I read about it stressed that it explored the "roots of fascism" in late Wilhelmine Germany. I'm sorry, but I couldn't see the tie in. Sure, the village society studied so exhaustively in The Whle Ribbon was rigid and authoritarian, but so were contemporary societies all over Europe and the United States. As an examination of a narrow portion of German society just before the outbreak of World War I The White Ribbon is fascinating. As a political statement it falls flat.

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