A very matured take on lessons of life.

Rating: 8/10 (12 January 2014)

The time period of our lives when we are the most susceptible and the most vulnerable to lessons of morality, differences between good and evil, death and life is childhood. But, the society norms say that childhood should be protected from all these thoughts. The White Ribbon challenges these norms and says the right time to discuss these things openly is from a very tender age. Hence we see a detailed discussion about death between a 13 year old girl and a 6 year old boy, where the girl says 'I am going to die, even you are going to die someday'. The level of maturity shown is very commendable.
The movie basically is about a pre-world war small town in Germany governed by a baron, pastor and a doctor who are powerful people holding moral and religious high grounds in the village. Some oddly weird things start happening which change the dynamics of the village and are felt mostly through the eyes of the village children. Narrated by the village school-teacher, the movie encompasses the life of several village families and more importantly the family children.
The director has used black and white as a medium to tell the story and it is extremely effective. Another unique quality of the director is his non-dwelling in scenes. He doesn't want the audience to linger in a particular scene for too long. Thus, sequences happen thick and fast and sometimes, you may loose track of what was happening (Thank god for the rewind button). Nevertheless the movie rakes the issue of violence and it's effect on children and the issues of morality and how they should be handled pretty effectively.
Rating : 8/10