Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009)

Director:

Michael Haneke

Writer:

Michael Haneke (writer)

Release Date:

24 September 2009 (Austria)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Strange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years just before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. The abused and suppressed children of the villagers seem to be at the heart of this mystery. |

Plot Keywords:

Church Service | Rural Life | Narration | Crime Against Child | Narrator

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

Susanne Lothar	...	The Midwife
Ulrich Tukur	...	The Baron
Burghart Klaußner	...	The Pastor
Josef Bierbichler	...	The Steward
Marisa Growaldt	...	The Farmhand
Christian Friedel	...	The School Teacher
Leonie Benesch	...	Eva
Ursina Lardi	...	Baronin Marie-Luise
Steffi Kühnert	...	Anna
Gabriela Maria Schmeide	...	Emma
Rainer Bock	...	The Doctor
Maria-Victoria Dragus	...	Klara
Leonard Proxauf	...	Martin
Janina Fautz	...	Erna
Michael Kranz	...	Hauslehrer

Also Known As:

The White Ribbon (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
A White Ribbon (Europe: English title)
Il nastro bianco (Italy)
Le ruban blanc (France)
The White Tape or the Teacher's Tale (International: English title) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some disturbing content involving violence and sexuality.

Runtime:

144 min

Country:

Austria | Germany | France | Italy

Language:

German | Italian | Polish | Latin

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45622) | USA:R | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Ireland:15A

Filming Locations:

Leipzig, Saxony, Germany

Company:

Wega Film

Trivia:

In an interview with Austrian magazine "Celluloid", Michael Haneke stated that he first planned "Das weiße Band" as a three-part TV-mini-series.

A beguiling 'trojan horse' full of deep unease

The White Ribbon is the latest from that master of creepy unease, Michael Haneke. But where Funny Games and Hidden were very much set in the urban present, this takes place in a vanished world, an Austrian farming village just before World War One.

The village is dominated by three men, the unlovable Baron, the despicable doctor and the convincingly monstrous village minister. They are surrounded by a web of apathy, malice, brutality and envy. As the Baron's wife said! But in the midst of all this innocence blossoms, as the narrator, the young schoolteacher, falls in love with the even younger nanny in the big house.

It's been shot in colour and printed in near monochrome, making each shot as worthy of framing as in any film-noir, and it benefits from the richness and subtlety of texture you'll only get with colour.

Added to that is the sheer intensity of the story telling, beyond Ingmar Bergman at his least stagey. There are hardly any extras; half of the characters get to be fully dimensional, and there is never any sense of acting. In this sternly protestant village they are all trying to keep their emotions buried but we, the fly on the wall, get to see the subtle signals in their faces.

The village is galvanised by a series of mysterious accidents and crimes, and these dramatic incidents link the whole thing together, but it's the fascination the camera has in these people that will hold your attention. It loves them all, the utterly vile as much as the sweet and tender. The White Ribbon is bookended by the longest fade-in and fade-out ever, and it felt just right at the end as we had been buried so deep in this other world.