The Origin Of Cruelty In Every Society.

Rating: Null/10 (9 August 2013)

Carefully digging into the origin of what generally lets violence & cruelty seep into our society, The White Ribbon (also known as Das weiße Band) is an elegantly crafted, meticulously shot & patiently narrated drama from writer-director Michael Haneke that's thought-provoking, disturbing & riveting at the same time, and is presented in a manner that's destined to polarise its audience.
Set in a fictional village of Germany, taking place just before the onset of First World War & narrated by the schoolteacher who once used to live there, the story of The White Ribbon concerns the suppressed children of the villagers who seem to be at the heart of a series of bizarre incidents, having the characteristics of a punishment ritual, occurring in their village.
Written & directed by Michael Haneke, the film has an eerie, mysterious vibe to it from the very beginning and is sufficiently aided by its crisp, dark & greyscale photography. Performances are no doubt terrific but what's definitely going to test its viewers & is sure to leave them either absolutely fascinated or utterly frustrated is its painfully slow pace, uncertain conclusion & moral ambiguity.
On an overall scale, The White Ribbon is a masterly controlled, skilfully directed & exquisitely performed art-house feature that captures the root of everything evil in a brutally honest manner & shows that people aren't born as sadists or monsters but are turned into one by the very individuals they put their faith in, and that the seeds of an inhuman society are planted a long time before it begins sprouting on the surface.