2009 Face-Palm D'or WinnerRating: 16(?)/20
Plot: In a German village just prior to The Great War (Wait a second. I don't know history. Is the first World War or the second one called The Great War? Or are either of them called that? Seems like I should know that, but when I was a kid, my teachers started with explorers every single year and never got very far. So I still know why Balboa named the ocean he found the Pacific Ocean [And speaking of that, why should we credit somebody with finding an ocean? Do you think the other explorers used to laugh at Balboa and talk about him behind his back? "Hey, Cow Head (That's what one explorers name meant. Cabeza de Vaca--head of the cow. I learned that thirteen times between my kindergarten and twelfth grade years actually. If that information was actually useful, I might have a life today that I could be proud of. Instead, I'm just a surly middle-aged man who knows useless things. Thanks a lot, former teachers.), when are you going to find another ocean? He he ha."] [Editor's Note: Shane became too depressed to complete this plot synopsis.]
This might be the coldest movie I've ever seen. I guess most people who know Michael Haneke's movies (the hilarious Funny Games and the action-packed Cache) aren't going to use "warmth" when describing them, but this one seemed even more detached, probably because of the crisp but eerie black and white. This was certainly a gorgeous movie, shots that looked like they could be photographs in an art museum, right next to Ansel Adams' stuff maybe. And for (especially) American audiences, that's going to be one of the serious issues with The White Ribbon. At times, the plot moves about as quickly as a photograph. Scenes that didn't really really seem to add to the character development or advance the plot just lingered. Characters seemed frozen in time, moving stiffly, probably with syrup in the britches. This movie is just so quiet, too quiet. And the bad deeds that the characters commit add up to this mood of despair. There's no on-screen violence, but the community and its population is drenched in this very thick molasses of violence, something you just get the feeling they won't be able to swim their way out of. Children are abused, birds are harmed, and it's all too much to take. Like Haneke's other movies, I'm not really intelligent enough to write about this one. I'm probably not even smart enough to watch it. (Editor's note: Shane became too depressed to finish this review.)
Here's a picture of a squirrel:
3 comments:
WWI was the Great War and this film is set on it's eve.
There are no more Oceans to find or worlds to conquer, but they do keep renaming them. The Antarctic Ocean I grew up with is now "The Southern Ocean" (how very original) and it pisses me off.
From someone who is middle-aged and angry about it, I don't think your 37 year-old claim to my middle-aged pain is valid.
I thought "Fargo", "The Thing", and "The Shining" were colder.
I do however agree with your 16(?).
"The White Ribbon" seems to be a kind of horror film. Violence is almost inevitable in this insular community where suspicions and lingering resentments have no where else to go... at least until Germans like these are allowed to go to war and gas other populations, maybe. The whole thing is kind of fascinating in a "what bad thing is next?" kind of way, and the setting is effective and haunting. I do wish there was more of an explanation of some things (what happened with the woman on the borrowed bike, what happened with the kid in the house), but I suppose ambiguity adds to the feeling of unease, and it was downright explicit compared to the undeciperable ending to "Cache". Worth watching, but I would have no urge to see it again.
Picture of squirrel gets 18/10 for whimsy
I agree with with Kairow that the squirrel is more enjoyable than this film.
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