Haneke's most balanced allegory

Rating: 10/10 (5 November 2017)

What is it about this film that is so good? It's not easy to place my finger on it. But what I can say is that while watching it, I feel like I'm watching a flawless film. I'm not sure if there's many other films I've seen like that, perhaps a few by Stanley Kubrick or some of the old masters. And, this is the company that Haneke is now in.
After all, he's now one of the rare winners of two best film awards at Cannes. I thought Haneke was brilliant in many of his other films, but I always found something questionable in them. Not so with White Ribbon. It has some of the trademarks of his other films, but this time they're rare and when placed between the rest, they stand out.
In the other extreme Haneke also made Amour, a film that's even more different from his others, besides perhaps the end. Anyway, we're talking about White Ribbon so I will stick to that here.
With all the problems with the youth in this film, the movie wins with the budding relationship that we are introduced to. It just offers something wonderful between the usual combination of weird sexual behaviour, murder and sin lurking beneath the surface. Yet, what for?
I know why Haneke's made this film but being in Germany, I don't have to spell it out. Haneke didn't find the need to and it's best left unsaid as an allegory.