The White Ribbon

Set against the backdrop of those horrific events, The White Ribbon reveals the warped morals and stifling atmosphere of a German village, which escalates as the number of atrocities escalates. The spasmodically punctilious and often unnecessarily cruel upbringing of the children blinds the minds of the villagers in their search for the real culprits – unable to even admit or consider that their offspring might have had something to do with it... A very impressive drama indeed, with excellent child actors, in which interpersonal relationships and concealed loathing are excellently portrayed alongside unidentifiable evil (Haneke really takes the gloves off for this one). P.S.: I was pleasantly surprised by the almost full capacity of the multiplex. :) 90% (24/01/2010)

The White Ribbon is the best possible thesis work of a student of all creative subjects at film school. I am one of those viewers who are able to appreciate this (and I have nothing but praise for Michael Haneke’s art), but a long time ago I fell in love with moving pictures above all for their emotions, and those are lacking here. (13/01/2010)

That was awesome! A hard, unpleasant and very intense psychological drama. I’ve just watched it and I feel as if Haneke had ran me over with a steamroller. The White Ribbon is a truly impressive mosaic of relationships in an Austrian village before WWI that reveals the origins of human hatred and corruption. It’s almost like a realistic Twin Peaks. (01/01/2010)

A humanistic probe into the midst of a group of black-and-white human souls, almost without emotion and without the twist that we would automatically and adamantly demand in the case of conventional narrative scales, but with the most breathtaking and purest visual and acting representation of a filmmaker's vision in many years. A breathtaking clash of angelic innocence and harsh discipline with violent human depravity, where what matters is not the who or the why but the HOW - perhaps the only Haneke film where, if we accept the master's exacting psychological game, we will leave with a warm feeling not only as spectators but above all of pure moral awareness. (22/09/2015)

Michael Haneke is an excellent author who can surprise you with each of his films because each of his films is different. It is a different genre, often a different style, although it is true that his films usually have a slower pace. Here, you will be absolutely captivated by the black-and-white execution, even though the film was not originally shot in black and white, but later adjusted to black and white. (12/04/2016)