Bergmanesque

Rating: Null/10 (2 September 2010)

Many stimulating comments about the content and meaning of this film have already been made, so I will just note the homage that Haneke pays to Bergman with this film. The cinematography is exactly like Bergman's earlier work, with the harsh north European landscape (who knew the sun shone so much up there?) and the repressed emotions. Even the sound, where every footstep on a wooden floor, every door closing seems amplified, is like Bergman.
The German is not as sing-song as the Swedish of Bergman's films but the characters are just as curt. The pastor is a clone of the dismal pastor in Winter Light (himself based on Bergman's father).
Many commenters see the repression of these children as paving the way for Nazism and perhaps that is what Haneke intended. But German children were raised in similarly repressed fashion before and after this particular generation, so I'm not sure this is the full explanation.