The White Ribbon (2009)

I wasn't immediately sure what to make of Michale Haneke's The White Ribbon. Since seeing it, however, I have not been able to stop thinking about it. Truths about this film have been revealed to me in the time between when I walked out of the theater and now. I think that is its great power. This is a film that works on the audience's intellect. It does not lead us to any clear conclusions, but it forces us to consider our own beliefs and philosophies, as well as our own terrible fears. This is a great, great film.

It is filmed in stunning black and white by Christian Berger, who gets my vote for a best cinematography Oscar. It looks and feels like a Bergman film. There is no score, the pacing is slow and steady, and one of the actors (Burghart Klaussner) looks just like Gunnar Bjornstrand. And the subject matter raises huge questions about both plot and philosophy.

The film concerns a small German village in the years leading up to the first world war. It will be sufficient to say that the plot consists of a number of terrible occurrences happening within the village. A doctor is thrown from his horse when it is tripped by a wire. A child is kidnapped and tortured. A barn is burned to the ground. The villagers are unsure of the culprit, or culprits. My first instinct, as I'm sure will be the case with many others, was to try to find out who had committed these crimes. But they are presented in a way that makes this impossible. This is not a detective story. There are many suspects, but the real conflict in the film is that there is really no good motive or evidence to tie anyone to the atrocities. Were they committed by an angry farmer? By a group of children? By God? Or do we simply live in a chaotic world? The film does not attempt to answer, only question. I think this is reflective of an inner human struggle.

It is to Haneke's credit that I spent most of the film terrified that another crime would be committed. I began to be less interested in who did it and more concerned with the notion that more and more terrible things could happen to this village. Sometimes life is that frightening. In the end, the fact that we cannot know who committed the crimes is more disturbing than the crimes themselves.

The White Ribbon is one of the most haunting, thought-provoking films I have seen in quite some time. I have no doubt I will be thinking about it for a very long time.