***may contain spoilers***
Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke's "The White Ribbon" was an unexpected find, like a breath of fresh air in a landscape of both mainstream movies and art films that have all forgotten what it's like to be subtle . "They don't make movies like this very often", my friend said. No, they don't.
The movie's strong points are: Incredibly authentic rendition of time, space and characters, wonderful framing and camera work, crushingly magnificent and intimidating dialogues, excellent performances and actor choices.
I did however feel, there were some inconsistencies in the plot (Why did Sigi never tell on the ones that harmed him, once he recovered? Why did the midwife never come back and where did the doctor's family dissapear to?).
But all in all, I believe that it might have been the director's intention to confuse, in order to help the viewer identify with the perspective of the school teacher, who was himself far from beeing the omniscient narrator, we have all been used to lately. Haneke's movie was not going to tell us "who" or "why", it's not about blame or motivation behind actions. It's simply about telling a story of a series of strange and violent events happening in a small rural village in the north of pre-WW I Germany.
And now, this might be my own personal opinion, but I strongly disagree with the idea that Haneke's village is to be seen as a microcosmos to reflect Germany as a whole and that his movie is about the depiction of the generation of children who would grow up into the fascist youth of WW II (you see, that would not be subtle at all). I believe that it stands for how, on a global level, a context of sexual and emotional repression, dogmatic religiosity, familial abuse, mistreatment and oppression of women, strong patriarchal values and social hierarchies can breed evil forces that will eventually exteriorize themselves.
I have found a user comment on imdb that I find quite appropriate:
"A powerful film, sharing so much information without any answers; it takes our mind into overdrive, trying so hard to find a reason for it all. But sometimes there are none; sometimes bad things just happen."
2 comments:
I agree with your friend ;) It is indeed a breath of fresh air, some of the best dialogues I have seen, amazing performances, perfect set.
Many reviews compare it to Dogville and I have to say, I found myself thinking about that one while watching this one. Don't really know why, the difference between the two is quite obvious. But I guess it was something like a combination of a focus on the dark side of human nature, the microcosmos of a small village and the narrator that makes them similar in a way.
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