Haneke at his best

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2012)

Michael Haneke said in an interview for Le Monde that he intended to make a movie about the roots of evil. He said that he believed that the environment of extreme, punitive and sexually repressive Protestantism in Germany has laid the groundwork for Fascism and Nazism. He also said that he saw the same patterns developing in fundamentalist Muslim societies today, and that it is those societies that today were spawning terrorists and suicide bombers. He said he wanted "The White Ribbon" to be a movie against ALL extremisms.
This is absolutely Haneke at his best. Stunning black and white film, with a real mystery that he leaves the audience to figure out for themselves. Throughout the film there is a sense of brooding and malevolence, personified in the children of the village (spookily played by one and all) who seem to be forces of evil. The events that take place in the village are never really explained, but that is the Hanneke experience, and serves to make the movie all the more thought-provoking.
A fascinating movie on several levels, which will leave you wondering long after the final credits.