Michael Haneke's "The White Ribbon" could be considered a mystery in that things happen for no apparent reason. The Doctor (Rainer Bock) breaks his arm after falling off his horse, which tripped over a wire strung between two trees. Not long after, someone abducts the eldest son of the Baron (Ulrich Tukur); he isn't found until the next morning, at which point it's discovered that he had been bound and beaten with a cane. A barn owned by the Pastor (Burghart Klaußner) is burned to the ground. The mentally challenged son of the Midwife (Susanne Lothar) is viciously attacked and almost blinded. Why is all of this happening? Are they acts of revenge? Are they punishments for the sin of weakness? Are they the beginnings of war, intolerance, and terrorism? Your guess is as good as mine. This movie isn't about solutions.

What is it about, then? The story takes place in the days before World War I, when authority was not questioned and life was lived according to much simpler routines. The setting is a German farming community, which has maintained stability by not upsetting the "natural order"; it was expected that the Baron would own the land, the men would have control over their women and children, and the peasants would not have the same rights as their superiors. The Pastor, for example, raises his children not to love God so much as fear Him, and he continuously instills the idea that they must feel guilty for everything that they do. So as to remind them of the path of righteousness from which they have strayed, he ties a white ribbon onto their arms - a symbol of purity.

But in spite of outward appearances, purity is not something to be found behind closed doors. The Doctor, so kind and caring with his patients, grossly mistreats the Midwife and sexually abuses his daughter on a regular basis. The Baron is a demanding man who does what he wishes with no regard for anyone else, including his own workers. But was he, in fact, responsible for the death of a local woman? Or was it an accident? The woman's husband, while grieving, knows that he can't prove it either way. The woman's son, on the other hand, is convinced of the Baron's guilt. This leads to an act of retribution that generates even more hostility amongst the villagers. By then, memories of the previous incidents rise to the surface. Suspicion spreads. Distrust builds. People suffer.

All this is told from the point of view of the Schoolteacher, who narrates as an old man (Ernst Jacobi) and is seen as a young man (Christian Friedel). Even though he courts a shy young woman named Eva (Leonie Benesch), he's not a participant so much as an observer, and he begins the film with a direct statement: "I don't know if the story I want to tell you is entirely true. Some of it I only know by hearsay. After so many years, a lot of it is still obscure and many questions remain unanswered." Indeed, the film plays not as an intimate portrait but as an examination of the facts - cold, hard, and, to the best of its ability, honest. We see into the lives of the villagers, and yet we're emotionally and physically kept at a distance, which probably accounts for the film's beautiful yet haunting black and white photography. It would also account for specific shots that, in the hands of a different director, would reveal everything in graphic detail.

Consider the scene in which the Pastor lashes his children as punishment for lying and disobedience; rather than actually show the act and its emotional aftermath, Haneke films the entire scene from outside the room with the door closed, and he ends it before the act is finished. Also consider a long shot of a coffin being wheeled out of the village on its way to the cemetery; the camera observes it from a far away location, never once cutting to the faces of the mourners flocking behind the carriage. This is not the kind of film that gives closure. It doesn't even pretend that such a thing exists.

The real genius of this film, however, is that the intricate subtexts are in service of a relatively simple story. We may not have all the answers, but at the same time, the goal is not to be confusing; the goal is to present the facts as accurately as possible, at which point we come to our own conclusions. If there are any to come to. Maybe we're being told that, when a repressive way of life is preferred for the sake of maintaining the status quo, a different and more evil form of repression will eventually surface. It could be a totalitarian government. It could be religious extremism. It could even be genocide. Who knows? Anything is possible. "The White Ribbon" is a superb film - carefully paced and cleverly structured, mysterious but not gimmicky, subtle but not lacking substance.

I have read much about Michael Haneke, but have never seen a film of his until this one. Haneke is a genuinely polarising filmmaker, some thinking he's a great artist and others who think he's a shock entertainer with no talent. So I went to see what all the hoopla was about with this film, which many people are calling his best.

This is a great film.

The White Ribbon is a deeply haunting, cerebral, strange, rewarding film, one that will make you think for days afterwards (a critic reviewing this film said it would haunt you for days. Try weeks!). Shot in beautiful, shimmering black and white (in fact, this is some of the best photography in a film that I've ever seen), the story revolves around a German village just prior to WWI, and the strange, eerie, creepy, and unsettling things going on around it. In some ways, The White Ribbon is reminiscent of unsettling horror films like Dreyer's Vampyr and many J-horror films (like Kurosawa's Cure) where things are deliberately left unanswered and the loose ends really puzzle you on a very deep, subconscious level. Many films have loose ends but I don't think I've ever seen a film have as many loose ends as this one does, but that's a good thing. The film even starts with a narrator saying "I think it happened this way. I'm not really sure". There are many nasty things going on, and many have suggested this is due to the repressed, religious upbringing of the village, but I'm not sure. To Haneke's credit, he never answers these things directly, and he also doesn't answer them in interviews that he's done. This makes the film far more effective and deeply troubling. Even writing about the film now makes me uncomfortable. It's that haunting, and that it is such a success on the arthouse circuit (it has already won the Palm d'Or at Cannes and just won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign film) is very encouraging.

While I can't judge a filmmaker on only one film, I think Haneke may in fact be the real thing. I plan on renting many more of his films (Cache and the original Funny Games), and I look forward to seeing more of his films.

Michael Haneke, director of Cache, now brings us an equally disturbing, tension-filled story told entirely in beautiful black and white cinematography, "The White Ribbon." Taking place in pre-WWI in a small Protestant German village, religion and fear take their toll on the villagers as mysterious events and "accidents" take place around their peaceful town. The mystery of who might be behind it grows stronger every day and perplexes everyone. The most disturbing part is the fact that it seems children might be the source of the evil. I will be giving a bit more synopsis than I normally would, but I think it's important to properly understand the story.

This is not a film for the average movie-goer because it moves slowly, it's quiet, there are subtitles, it's not in color, it's cranked full of symbolism, and let's not forget it's two and a half hours long. However, if you are a film buff and like artsy stuff as well, this is your cup of tea.

I really enjoyed Haneke's strong build of suspense throughout the film. For an R-rated film, there is not a lot of on screen violence. Taking place off screen, you are left to imagine the consequences most of the time and that can be scarier still. Walking around slowly in this old creaky houses waiting for something to happen will keep you alert and interested and the time passes by quicker than you'd think.

This is a strong patriarchal culture. Father sets down the rules and the punishments for even the smallest of misbehavior and the degree of intensity and psychological damage being inflicted doesn't leave a lot of room for surprise that this could have been part of the generation of children who grew up to be Nazis. The children test their boundaries to see what they can get away with and the more they get away with, the easier greater crimes seem to be. Not that the adults are any better! The adults' infractions and bad qualities are laid out for the audience and all members of this society are concerned with proper punishment above all else.

The actual "white ribbon" is a punishment itself to be worn by the pastor's children after they act up. The white color is to remind them of the innocence and purity they should be seeking in their everyday lives and they have to wear them for the world to see.

The story is presented to us over a long period of time by a narrator who is schoolteacher to the children. His subplot also lends the film its only beacon of shining light as he falls in love with a nanny and attempts to woo her.

The children in this film seem mature beyond their years, even the youngest ones. They handle the heavy themes with faces of innocence that conceal the malice that might lay behind them.

This film had the best/worst break-up scene ever. This man laid out the most derogatory base insults upon this woman in such a matter-of-fact matter and it was so utterly raw and scathing, it made my jaw drop.

This is the best foreign language film I've seen in a long time and one of the best movies I've seen this year so far (even though it was released in 2009, it is only just now coming to theaters in my area). It has already won some awards and is up for Best Foreign Language Picture for the Oscars. Not for everyone, but a good hearty meal of a film to the right audience.

Blu-Ray Features:

There is a making of the film feature. They looked at around 7,000 children over the course of six months in casting the ten main child roles. Any children that were second choices ended up filling up the background in classroom and church scenes. There is some amazing audition and rehearsal footage of the children running through certain scenes and fascinating to see how normal and modern they look since their costumes and manner fit the time period so well that one could have believed they were just snatched through a time rip! Many of the adult actors were fascinated with the story and fought to get into this project. Not enough weathered-looking people could be found locally so the search went out to places like Romania where people had it much harder and could look more appropriate for the time period. The awards and nominations for cinematography were well earned, not only because of the beautiful final product, but in seeing how much they had to deal with cameras jamming and other problems during the process.

In Haneke's films, you never see any direct violence, but the humiliation factor of turning the children into outcasts or failures is horrible enough on its own to let the audience imagine the rest. Haneke talks at length in a feature called "My Life" about his upbringing, film experience, influences, and reasons for certain styles he uses in his work. This is a very detailed look at the career of Michael Haneke from his perspective and others who have worked with him.

There is a feature of footage of the cast and crew at the Cannes Film Festival where the film won the Golden Palm. They take place on a panel for a lengthy Q&A session with the audience talking about the themes of the film and motivations behind the characters.

Besides trailers and previews, there is also ANOTHER feature interview with Michael Haneke discussing the film. With all these extras, this Blu-Ray is packed with everything you could want to know about "The White Ribbon". Beaucoup d'extras! The cinematography awards were worth it for the breathtaking black and white and looks fantastic on Blu-Ray.