The White Ribbon (2009) R - 2½ Stars

Beautifully filmed in Black & White it's the story of a small village in Protestant northern Germany. The children are excellent little actors and the storyline is full just very confusing and never worked out. In German with subtitles, it's the story of the abused youngsters in the village who seem to be involved in a series of mysterious events. Are these children the future Nazis of the world? The story line shows you how they got this way. Though the movie never proves the children are involved it implies their revolt against authority. I didn't care for the ending as it explains nothing and the movie is extremely slow. The story is narrated by the school teacher many years later.

July of 1913, just before World War I, in a small Protestant village of northern Germany, strange accidents start taking place. In a seemingly peaceful town, but behind closed doors the children are mistreated by authority and the women repressed and treated poorly. All seems almost normal in this repressive fundamentalist society. Starring (Christian Friedel) as the school teacher, Eva (Leonie Benesch), The Baron (Ulrich Tukur), and Baroness Marie-Louise (Ursina Lardi), Martin (Leonard Proxauf), Margarete (Johanna Busse), Klara (Maria-Victoria Dragus) and the Pastor (Burghart Klaußner), to name a few.

Awards include:
2009 - Cannes Film Festival - Palme d'Or
2009 - Toronto Film Critics Association - Best Foreign Language Film
2009 - New York Film Critics Circle - Best Cinematography

X-Filme Creative Pool, Les Films du Losange, Lucky Red, WEGA-Film
Director: Michael Haneke
Writer: Michael Haneke
Producers: Veit Heiduschka, Andrea Occhipinti, Margaret Menegoz

I viewed 12/10