Sony Picturees | 2009 | 144 mins. | Rated R
Director Michael Haneke (Caché, Funny Games) is a filmmaker who seems to relish his audience on the edge of their seats watching his films. Haneke’s latest effort, The White Ribbon is no exception. Right from the start, he grabs the audience by the lapels and never lets up. There’s nothing particularly lofty about the opening credits. They roll by in stark black and white. Yet, somehow this manages to generate a feeling of tension. Throughout The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band), shot completely in black and white, the tension permeates until the closing credits end; It seemed reminiscent of a horror film, which confused me since the picture was supposed to be a drama. However, after seeing the film, the feeling of tension is justified.
The movie is set in a rural village in 1913 Germany, and the opening voiceover explains that while the story we’re about to see may be imperfectly remembered by the aging narrator, it’s mostly true, and should go some ways toward explaining “some things that happened in this country.” The film is narrated by an unnamed schoolteacher (played by Christian Friedel and voice over read by Ernst Jacobi) who, through looking back many years, tells viewers how he met his fiancée Eva (Leonie Benesch). Both were once residents in fictitious Eichwald: he taught the village´s children, and she was nanny to the baron´s (Ulrich Tukur) children.
The baron represents a third of the village´s powerful and religious based leadership. The pastor (Burghart Klaub) grounds the community in faith, and the doctor (Rainer Bock) offers advice on health and other life concerns. Together, the three men rule with a cold, iron hand. Sexism, shame and fear are all used to intimidate the local residents, including children, into total compliance. Each has his own unique skeleton in the closet, say a sexual fetish for children, masking hypocrisy with religion or telling others to ignore their instincts because he knows what is best for them.
As it stands now, Eichwald is mostly silent as it experiences a strange series of incidents. Tripwire is laid for the local Doctor on horseback; a peasant dies in a grain silo accident, children are found in the nearby forest savagely beaten. In the midst of all this, is a community holding its breath. The schoolteacher is looking for a reason behind all this madness.
As time passes, the children develop asset of silent signals. We know their communicating, we just can’t hear them. All the adults remain oblivious to who or what is behind these mysterious occurrences, but the schoolteacher develops a theory and confronts the children, many of whom are also his students. They claim innocence and cluelessness, leaving their accuser to go to the village´s powers that be. They dismiss his accusations and threaten to have him removed from the village.
The White Ribbon would be just another standard thriller with a sadistic bent if it weren’t for a number of factors coming together superbly, none more so than the fantastic performances of children in several roles vital to the story. Simply put, The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke’s finest film to date will make a lot of viewers think about patriarchy, government, and justice.
The 1080p transfer afforded The White Ribbon is absolutely beautiful. Shot in stark black and white, the film looks like a million bucks on Blu-ray. Contrast is handled extraordinarily, black levels are inky throughout without resorting to crush, and detail is stunning, broadcasting crisp detail in every sequence. Grain is also marvelously presented, offering the film an almost preternatural film-like glow. Fabulous.
The film’s DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound mix is also impressive. Not quite as notable as its video counterpart, this track preserves dialogue, music and atmospherics with great clarity, utilizing both a strong dynamic range and a wonderfully enveloping exploitation of surround channels. Most of The White Ribbon is straightforward dialogue (which stays front and center, for the most part), but this lossless presentation captures it very well.
An English DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track is included, as are English and English SDH subtitles.
We get a pretty solid package of special features. My Life (50:00) is a look at Haneke’s life and career, which is followed by a making-of doc (38:00), some excerpts from the film’s debut at Cannes 2009 (18:00) and another extensive interview with the director (15:00).
The movie’s trailer is also included
[xrrgroup][xrr label=”Video:” rating=”5.0/5″ group=”s1″ ] [xrr label=”Audio:” rating=”4.0/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Extras:” rating=”3.5/5″ group=”s1″] [xrr label=”Film Value:” rating=”4.0/5″ group=”s1″] [/xrrgroup]
