The White Ribbon

I'm ashamed to say that this is only the second film I've seen by director Michael Haneke. The other film was 'Hidden' which was an excellent thriller.

You can see why this film has won so many awards. I've said before that films can be split into two categories: art and entertainment. This is very firmly in the art category. The black and white cinematography helps to accentuate the creepy quality of the story and characters. This is not a film for everyone. It is quite long and many will find the plot meandering with very little answers to the mysteries that it brings up. It is more of a character study on how evil can come in many shapes and forms. It can also be seen to show the oppressive nature of religion and how someone will lash out when they are oppressed in that way. One other thing that may put you off is the seriousness of the film. There is very little by way of lightness and the characters hardly seem to smile at all. There being only one moment of happiness when they have a harvest festival. This seriousness is especially true of the children. I get the feeling that they live in such fear of the adults that they do not want to crack a smile in case it looks like they are having too much fun and so incur the wrath of their parents. So they walk around looking really creepy and serious.


Christian Friedel is excellent as the school teacher, the only person in the village who questions what is going on. He also seems to be the only one who shows any true emotion when he falls in love. For a first film Christian does an excellent job. The rest of the cast, especially the children, give the requisite creepy performance.


This is certainly not the type of village you want to visit. Please do not let me put you off seeing the film. You just have to be prepared to be challenged by what you see and not just have to sit there as all the work is done for you.