The Gown – student newspaper at Queen's University Belfast.

REVIEW: The White Ribbon

Winner of this year’s Palme d’Or award in Cannes, Michael Haneke’s ‘The White Ribbon’ is set in a pre WW1 agricultural German village, where order, rule and discipline are absolute, and enforced by the village Baron and heavily imposed on a moral level by the harsh and stern Protestant pastor. However, the structure of harmonious village life seems to disintegrate with the horrific events that ensue, and the sense of order is soon revealed as corrupt or non-existent.

BY CATRIONA BURNS

The film opens as it means to go on with a dramatic and malicious incident. A carefully constructed wire trips the doctor’s horse and leaves him badly injured. This is the first of several mysterious episodes that occur in the village- the farmer’s wife is killed, a fire breaks out, a disabled child is tortured. With each of these acts a sense of punishment and retribution is implied – who is committing these crimes and why remains a mystery although at one point, it seems all will be revealed. Thus, the film is partly a psychological detective story, constantly questioning the sincerity of the village inhabitants. The fact that the culprits remain ominous is testament to the fabric of intrigue of the film and is characteristic of Haneke’s preference to make his audience work and implicate them within the story. Haneke seems to make his point no more frankly than in the white ribbon itself, which is tied around the Pastor’s children as a symbol of innocence and purity. This is indeed an ironic statement, enforced by those of who believe they know better, but as Haneke illustrates with the hypocrisy of this white ribbon, they are at the core of these brutal and malice happenings. ‘The White Ribbon’ is an intense, sinister and chilling piece of cinema which questions the capabilities of the human race and forces us to question who we can really trust.

The White Ribbon is now showing at the QFT.

www.queensfilmtheatre.com

Tags: Catriona Burns, Gown, newspaper, QFT, qub, Queen's, queen's university, student, The Gown, The White Ribbon

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