The White Ribbon [Das weiße Band] (Haneke, 2009)

[animatedude]

They picked it up as a pre-sale, before Cannes even started. They also acquired Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky in a similar way. Apparently, Sony Pictures Classics wants a higher profile this year. On a related note, IFC both the US rights for Antichrist despite the bad reaction from the critics; the film's length will be edited before release.

aha...Sony Pictures Classics actually have great foreign film catalog but when it comes to oscar push and marketing,they are not the best.

i feel sorry for filmmakers whenever they announce their movies are picked up by companies like IFC or overture,you know it means that no one will watch the movie and it will take centuries for it to hit the DVD shelves.

on another sad note,“I Love You Phillip Morris” has been picked up for distribution by Consolidated Pictures and no one picked up "Me and Orson Welles" yet.

[shariqq]

on another sad note,“I Love You Phillip Morris” has been picked up for distribution by Consolidated Pictures and no one picked up "Me and Orson Welles" yet.

That's weird, considering it starts one VERY BIG name and one big name.

[animatedude]

on another sad note,“I Love You Phillip Morris” has been picked up for distribution by Consolidated Pictures and no one picked up "Me and Orson Welles" yet.

That's weird, considering it starts one VERY BIG name and one big name.

loads of gay sex,that's why.

[ak]

Inside info: Why Haneke's The White Ribbon is not playing at DIFF 2009.

DIFF did try very hard to get it, but the film's producer only wanted to screen at fests in markets which have a distribution deal in place. That is why it is not playing at DIFF 2009.

[ak]

I will get the opportunity to experience this on the big screen. The White Ribbon comes out in the States (limited; but it's LA, so it will play!) by the time I return.

[fizz]

One lucky dog.

[ak]

I want to hear the gasps from the audience!

You could say I want to see the movie less for the movie itself, and more for the reactions it will generate. That is why Haneke makes movies, and that is why I love him.

[fizz]

I want to hear the gasps from the audience!

Remember how fucked up the audience got during the throat slitting scene in Cache? You could say I want to see the movie less for the movie itself, and more for the reactions it will generate. That is why Haneke makes movies, and that is why I love him.

Brilliant - that to me is the essence of experiencing, not watching, Cache. Having seen all of Haneke, and knowing that I don't generally like the films but love the experience of going through his extreme methods, I know you will be rewarded in this endeavour.

[fizz]

In much the same way that Haneke's masterful Cache explored random, unexplained acts of voyeourism inflicted on a helpless, though perhaps not so innocent family, The White Ribbon explores random unexplained acts of violence inflicted on inhabitants of a small German town on the eve of the outbreak of World War 1. Who is responsible for these? In a Haneke film, the answer to this question is immaterial (if you really must know, the only logical answer is, its probably Haneke himself, despite his claims that everything in the script can be explained). As audience, we are both test subjects and observers. The film functions, quite uncharacteristically compared to the director's previous body of work, as a whodunnit but also as a social commentary on fanaticism, indoctrination and most significantly on how violence breeds violence by being passed down generationally.

As we see the social order of the repressed village community crumble, lovingly presented in prestine, crisp, high contrast black and white to function as representative of a time and place (the film was shot in colour and processed post production), Haneke plants enough juicy scenes that act as evidence for one of numerous possible explanations, all of which only make sense on further reflection. This is not a film you can classify as good or bad as soon as the credits role, but one that requires careful afterthought, with many unanswered scenes lingering. That is essentially the essense of every Haneke film (it is about the experience) but here its much more linear, almost self-explanatory. The script makes extensive use of voice over narration, by the films protagonist, a school teacher at the time of the films setting, now older and reflecting on the events that took place in his past.

White Riboon makes an obvious, overstressed point, that repression (of any kind) engulfs and consumes us in some way. In Haneke's The Pianist this repression was sexual, here it is domestic/moral. This plot device is old, almost a tired, second hand Haneke. The layers slowly peel themeselves to focus on the children in the village - could they be behind the seemingly random accidents (the village doctor injuring himself after his horse trips on a wire, a farm worker falling down the wooden floorings, fire in the barn), or is this a form of revenge? Perhaps the creation of a new social order amongst those who have always been tormented (the children, by the adults)? This perspective of children is one of the directors favoured subject areas (see both Cache or the abysmal Benny's Video), second only to his exploration of the breakdown of marital bonds (see the fantastic The Seventh Continent. All of this is coated with a wildly negative, one sided view/criticsm of religion, using simplistic points about the dangers of parental control as a form of oppression. Apocalyptic negativity has by now become the directors stamp and is meant to be a reflection of realism, but unfortunately doesn't work completely this time.

Rating: 3.5/5

[shariqq]

That's a little disappointing, considering it is being given so much love everywhere. Or perhaps Haneke has finally made a movie that the general audience is getting?

[kaytee]

I thought the movie really worked on achieving what it set out to do, delivering the message that fear and repression can lead to evil doing, in this case it may be the kids or may be Haneke but it happened and looking for who did it is not as important as why it happened.

[fizz]

I realise and agree that looking for who did what isn't important, never has been. But if you break things down logically and think about it for a second, like most (though not all) Haneke films, the sequence of events and how they happened is pretty absurd and cut off from reality. My feeling was that Haneke thought it would be cool to make a film that is on the surface like those horror films about evil kids in a village, but give it more politicial/social context - which works, to an extent.

Gorgeous, gorgeous cinematography though. Too bad couldn't watch it the way it's supposed to be viewed - on the big screen.

[fizz]

That's a little disappointing, considering it is being given so much love everywhere. Or perhaps Haneke has finally made a movie that the general audience is getting?

I have a theory:

The film is not better or worse than most of Haneke's other work. He has made better films (but also much worse) but this is his first original film since the universal love he got for Cache and Ribbon was therefore celebrated with much more fanfare. Both his films prior to Cache - Pianist and Code Unknown are in my opinion better (though this one is certainly more polished in terms of look, tighter scripting etc), but because you've seen the technique, style, method before, it reeks of familiarity.

[madali]

The White Ribbon [Das weisse Band] (Haneke, 2009)
IMDB Link

Everything aside for now. I start with the main thing. The film looks beautiful. Maybe watching so many films is slowly turning me into those old critics, but there is something special about Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” that sits on a different bench with the other films of 2009. It is not unique in the history of cinema, of course, it does have reflections of works from other directors from past decades, but, I think, most directors have lost a sense of visual beauty.

The film is in black and white and usually, in a generation so many decades after color, directors have to be careful doing it black and white, because it just feels pretentious and unnecessary. But in “The White Ribbon”, it works aesthetically. There is no NEED for colors, the way a book might not need the fonts to be in red or the paper in blue.

And look at the way the pictures are framed. It feels like Haneke painted an image and inside the image, there is action, a sort of animated painting. I’m thrilled that there is no shakey cam to denote realism. The camera is usually still and when it moves, it moves, slowly, comfortably, and smoothly, fluid and neat.

I have some gripes regarding the simplicity of the message the film seems to give, but I’m so moved by the beauty of the whole thing, that (maybe unfairly to the film) the plot actually takes a backseat for me. Usually, we use such comments negatively on a big-budget, all visuals, no story film, but now I’m using it positively here. Well, that’s film.

4/5

[fizz]

Mad, what about the actual film?