The White Ribbon
The White Ribbon is a symbol of innocence and purity that are merely superficial in this Teutonic plate-full of visual and thespian delights. In a Deutschland ersatz version of Children of the Corn we’re taken to a rural German village still is a somewhat feudal state run by Church and State through a Baron (Ulrich Tukur) and Pastor (Burghart Klaußner) about a year before the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. The local school teacher (impressive first timer Ernst Jacobi) narrates the strange series of events that transpire involving sabotage, kidnapping and torture of the local doctor, a pre teen with Downs Syndrome and the Barons son. In the midst of this intrigue we explore the complicated family lives of the residents of these simple surroundings – complications like veiled incest and unfaithful behaviour. Starring a sensational yet unfamous cast (at least to North American audiences) and shot in black and white with subtitles, The White Ribbon is still two and an half hours well spent.