144 minutes of bared nerve endings

Rating: 8/10 (2 September 2010)

A horse with a rider falls, suddenly. So begins a series of events, some of them strange. We do get the answer; it isn't hammered in, it's hinted at, like most of what one can take from this. The setting is a small village in Germany, before WWI. Every character is a human being(flawed, not "evil"; not all likable), no one in this is flat. The relationships are credible. We see under the surface in this, to the point where we realize the rot behind the pretty facade. The main turning points are three families, that of the doctor, the pastor and the baron(who provides work for many of the lower-class people there). We have a narrator in the 31-year-old school teacher(like all the adult males, only ever referred to by his title), and the growing love between him and Eva(every scene between the two is spot-on, the first is instantly recognizable) is beautiful. The acting is amazing, including for the children. Every performance is perfect. The themes of justice, retribution, guilt, shame, pressure and authority are explored impeccably well here. This has numerous long, largely static takes; nothing really "changes", in a sense. A lot of shots are rather dim, as well; not to be confused with "poorly lit", not at all... in fact, this accomplishes, like no other film I've ever seen, that feeling that there's something there, in the darkness(that we know from real life). The stark b&w is effective, albeit at times, it feels like they weren't planning for it(but decided on it in post), as a few bits are a little hard to make out sans color. There is a great richness in detail in this, and it really gives you an idea of how it was back then, and how people related to each other, including across the classes. This wasn't what I expected, and I watched this late, so I felt a tiredness set in, that I have yet to succumb to(as I type this, it's been two and a half hours since the end credits ran, and I haven't stopped thinking about it, or the issues it brings up). There is disturbing content and violence in this. I recommend it to anyone who finds what I describe to sound appealing. 8/10