hard cold mood

Rating: 7/10 (14 February 2015)

It's pre-WWI in a small German village. An unnamed man recalls strange incidents when he was the village school teacher. Someone had strung a near-invisible wire between two trees. The doctor is hospitalized after his horse trips on the wire in his regular ride. Then a tenant farmer woman falls to her death in an industrial accident. The village is a strict harsh place. The puritanical pastor punishes his children with a cane and ties white ribbons on his children as a reminder of their need to keep their purity. The strange incidents continue. The movie ends with the start of the first World War.
I would have liked the movie follows one single lead as he/she experiences and investigates these strange incidences. The black and white photography is beautiful. The cold everyday violence is interesting. The movie portrays a very effective hard oppressive mood. However it is a lot of mood but very little drive. Sure this is not the regular North American movie but I just want to follow the police investigating these incidences. It feels somehow distant to follow the various villagers and the narration.