Advertise here.
 |
Title: The White Ribbon
|
/ 
/ 
| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents,while not over the top there are underlying themes in this movie that are disturbing and best seen by adults only. Recommended for ages 17 and up. |
Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” may be the most convincing and haunting filming of a truth many of us wish was anything but: That evil exists in this world regardless of good or bad intentions. We have seen evil in film before. Many people think of Hannibal Lector or the Joker when they think of evil depicted in film. While those are great fictional portrayals of evil, I think whenever someone asks me what film has best depicted evil I’m going to think of “The White Ribbon.” Here is an unconventional movie where there is little story but many emotions. It takes place in a village prior to World War I. There are no cars in this village. No electricity. When the narrator needs to practice playing piano he lights a candlelight so that he can read the notes in the book.
 |
In this town the most powerful people are the Baron (who owns most of the town), the doctor (who is the primary healer), and the pastor (who is the spiritual guidance). These three men all have good intentions but they are doing far more harm to their village than they realize. This harm comes in the form of how they raise their kids. To these men kids are not people but ideals in little bodies. Consider the title of the movie that reflects on a particular situation: The pastor ties white ribbons around his kids arms to signify purity. He does this to discourage his kids from sinning. The ribbon has come off several times, but whenever someone does something wrong it goes back on.
 |
In a sense the white ribbons - which are supposed to represent purity and goodness - become signs of shame. Public humiliation. These kids spirits are being destroyed by this act, but their father has too much tradition and ignorance to see the harm he is doing. He’s not intentionally evil though. There are a few scenes where he shows he is a wise and caring figure. But when he’s blind to his own problems it causes more problems. The doctor heals people but has been hurt because someone tripped him up on a wire while he was riding a horse. We find out later on that he’s sexually attracted to his daughter and has committed the shameful act of acting on his lustful feelings.
 |
The Baron keeps most of the town employed, but he wakes up one day to find his crops destroyed and his business that year ruined. Most likely from disgruntled workers, who are dismayed that a choice he made resulted in the death of a woman on the job. The pastor gets his barn burnt down at one point. A retarded kid is beat up. There are no suspects, but considering who is hurting who, it starts to become maddening trying to figure out whose the cause of it all. The narrator seems to be the only one who can do no wrong. Of course he opens the movie saying that he is retelling the story as best as he could remember it, so maybe he finds no fault in himself because he’s too busy overlooking the big picture.
 |
What’s truly scary about this movie I’m afraid to talk about, so I warn you right now this may be considered a spoiler. The narrator eventually has a suspect of whose doing these horrible things. Multiple suspects in fact. His suspicion seems farfetched. Crazy even. But when you let the theory sink in and really think about it...well, the idea starts to gain legs and manifests itself into something truly terrifying. What this movie claims is not that the fourteen hundreds was a period of sexual repression (and thus rebellion) like so many other movies I’ve seen are about, but that evil is a part of life and unchecked it just creates more evil. Sometimes it can breed it at a very young age. Many of the adults intentions in this film are good but they are misguided.
 |
So misguided that they are creating a lurking monster that will not be able to be dealt with properly if gone unchecked. This movie was filmed in black and white and proves that not only can black and white films be beautiful to look at, but that they can help the story much more then color can sometimes. Here the movie is beautiful. The village looks peaceful. Many shots in this movie you can frame and it would be art. But the lack of color adds an eerie feeling that something is lurking underneath this village. Secrets that have the potential to destroy lives. At the end of the film we get no solid answer to what any of this means. What exactly is the director trying to say?
 |
Is he even saying anything or is he just screwing around? Some will watch this and think that “The White Ribbon” drops the ball because they’ll assume the director couldn’t think of a proper ending. While abrupt this is not the case. The director has a vision and he knows what he’s saying. But no one else in this movie knows the problem. So he films the scenes, puts it on the screen, and trusts the audience to be smart enough to figure this out. That’s daring film making right there and it takes courage to be this daring. Though depressing “The White Ribbon” is a very complex and interesting film that begs to be re-watched multiple times and analyzed to death. I predict it will be considered one of the greatest films to come from Germany. And if my feelings are correct your going to be looking at people a whole lot differently when all is said and done.
 |
 |
|
|
Spaceriffic Review
Want to see us review this? Send a donation with your title request, and it will be done (might take awhile, but it will get done).
Click here for a list of films that have already been requested before you request something.
