The White Ribbon is a beautiful, yet terrifying film.
The story revolves around a small German village where everything is tightly run. When mysterious events start to occur, the village begins to turn itself inside out. First, a doctor is injured in a freakish accident where the horse he was traveling on suddenly collapses, injuring him. Later it’s found out the horse tripped over very thin, tightly pulled wire. Other things begin to happen that are equally horrifying, such as the Baron finds his son hanging upside down in a barn after getting whipped on his arse severely with a whip. The town begins to unravel as more things begin to occur and no one can find the culprit.
This movie was odd. It started out innocent and soon developed into a slowly blooming drama around a doctor’s accident. I felt like it would never ever really get going as it sort of stalled in the middle. The movie cleverly starts to introduce the different characters in the village. You have the doctor’s family that is struggling to keep it together while the doctor is healing. You have an innocent schoolteacher that loves his students, and cares about their well being. You also have a Baron and Baroness that live on a completely different level than the rest of the village. It seems like the movie flat lines by explaining everyone thoroughly. It literally felt like the movie was turning into one of the more overrated foreign films.
That’s when things begin to shift gears, though.
As terrible things begin to happen in the village the situations begin to grow dimmer and dimmer. Each horrible event trumps the previous and the insecure feeling of who is doing what begins to crop up. Is it the Baron? Is it the disgruntled farmers? Who could do these terrible things? The uncertainty of conclusion and the paranoia from the characters about ‘who is next’ is so thick that you can’t help but feeling the same concern. I don’t want to go into too much detail, mainly because I don’t want to give anything away, but this movie will surprise you; the key is to stick with it through the long setup with the characters (this is my only complaint about the film).
What’s remarkable is that Michael Haneke creates such a confined world, which is what makes most horror films work so well. Haneke keeps this village confined and only mentions brief moments of the outside world. He also picks a perfect time period to setup this masterpiece. Rural Germany let’s the viewers know that these farmers literally have no choice, but to stay and uncover an awful truth. Haneke cuts off his characters from escaping these series of terrors and that makes the movie even more intense.
Take that and add in with the black and white film choice and you have yourself a classic horror setup.
Speaking of black and white, the Blu-ray exceeds all expectations because the film is shot in black and white. Most HD concentrate heavily on the ‘black’ and ‘white’ elements of the picture and excel if that’s the only things that reside in it. Much like The Longest Day and Young Frankenstein, there is little graininess in the BW transfer and the picture looks darn sharp. I was really impressed, and drawn into the movie,m thanks to the sharp, clear look of the Blu-ray visuals. Horror movies heavily benefit from the HD treatment, much like action films. Add in the black and white and the terror is amplified.
The audio isn’t as great, but that’s mainly because there is an absence of music (for the most part), but the dialogue is crystal clear.
Finally, as for the features here’s what you’re getting:
▪ Making Of “The White Ribbon”
▪ “My Life” – A look at Michael Haneke’s career
▪ Cannes Film Festival Premiere
▪ An Interview with Michael Haneke
Good stuff here and something worth looking at.