Das weisse Band – Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009)

The White Ribbon

Micheal Haneke, whose usual directorial style is to make grand confrontational films regarding the emotional  vacuum needed to operate in this world, to enact cruelty to people you have to look in the eye without conscious, treads a similar theme here but in a different time.

In a small German village on the eve of WWI we see the farmers toil for the Baron who profits from their work, we see the towns Preacher, the Doctor, we see their children they constantly mistreat, and the towns schoolteacher (who narrates this story, shakily, looking back as an old man).

As life progresses, strange accidents befall the citizens of this village. A farmer’s wife falls through the floor of the mill, a wire is strung along a trail to bring down the Doctors horse, nursery windows are opened to the winters cold, children disappear and are found beaten in the woods, and on and on.

The Pastor ties a white ribbon to his children’s arms to remind them of their innocence that they have traded for sin (insolence, masturbation, etc), but they act out more in occasionally shocking ways (his daughter kills his pet bird with a pair of scissors, in classic Haneke style-off screen). His complete lack of empathy only worsening their actions.

The other adults aren’t to be trusted much either, the Doctor abuses his children in terrible ways, the Teacher (who is filtering the information for us) comes off as condescending and oblivious, but it is he who begins to put the clues together that it is the kids who are behind all of these mysterious and violent acts. When he brings his suspicions to other adults he is shouted down for suggesting that children may be the culprits.

The climax of our story coincides (the doctor disappears, his assistant flees to alert the authorities) with the assassination of Ferdinand and in the Village, preoccupied with the idea of a World War the thread of investigation is dropped leaving many questions unanswered. The implications of these children growing into Fascists is like a dark shadow. There is never any great reveal, many details are implied or left to you to interpret.

It is literally, haunting. It was all I could talk about for the rest of the night and was the first thing I thought of when I woke up the next morning.

A complete vision, almost without flaw. Haneke proves to be perhaps the worlds greatest living director. For real.