The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)

[aox]

US BD by courtesy of sony here.

Is it just me, or is there no information whatsoever on that Amazon page at the current time?

No, unless I am missing something, I don't see anything either. Which is why I made my comment above. The Amazon page is simply a place holder, which they do often.

[TMDaines]

HMV has already shipped my blu-ray! =D>

My Amazon one hasn't been dispatched yet. It's not like I can watch it for two weeks until I'm back home anyway. I also got mine for £9.49 with my Amazon student discount .

[perkizitore]

I got mine for 9£ using my HMV student discount!

[TMDaines]

I got mine for 9£ using my HMV student discount!

HMV do a student discount still? I thought they stopped them. When does yours expire?

[Guido]

I kind of feel like I'm the only one who didn't like this! Even my partner, who's always had a general aversion to Haneke's films, was engrossed. Of course, as always in his work, I admire just how carefully calibrated the narrative is, but I still found it peculiarly empty (which is strange, considering the subject matter). What I felt, far beyond the ideas the film was positing (regarding societal structures, violence as it is passed on between generations, Nazism, etc.), was the presence of an ego that's convinced it's doing something radical, when, in fact, it isn't.

I really liked Haneke around the time of Code Unknown. I felt he was genuinely TACKLING things in that film, and that gave it, for all of its strengths, a kind of interesting fragility; like it was walking on the edge...as if the depicted violence somehow had an effect on the film itself. Haneke prides himself on being a filmmaker who perpetually walks along that edge, and yet I found that there was nothing at stake in The White Ribbon. Perhaps that's a problem on my end - I can't quite disassociate the filmmaker's attitude and the film he's made. And, to be honest, I wasn't invested in it right from the start. I'll surely give it another try, but for the time being, consider me underwhelmed.

[manicsounds]

cduniverse says 6/1.... for whoever uses cduniverse...

[Jun-Dai]

The day Haneke makes a "pretty" film is likely to be some time after Hell freezes over, but the cinematography absolutely demands the big screen - I'm hard pushed to think of a finer example of black and white imagery this past decade.

The White Ribbon may have been many other things as well, but in my mind it was definitely a pretty film. This despite a few moments of horror and a few moments of grotesqueness.

[TMDaines]

Amazon UK have started shipping too now.

[perkizitore]

I watched this today, fascinating film and a mesmerizing blu-ray. Bravo, AE! =D>

[HistoryProf]

The day Haneke makes a "pretty" film is likely to be some time after Hell freezes over, but the cinematography absolutely demands the big screen - I'm hard pushed to think of a finer example of black and white imagery this past decade.

The White Ribbon may have been many other things as well, but in my mind it was definitely a pretty film. This despite a few moments of horror and a few moments of grotesqueness.

I did end up seeing it the other night in Portland, and did indeed find it a beautiful film to look at. I ended up a bit underwhelmed in the end with the lack of resolution, but at the same time wanted to watch it again immediately to see what I missed - I don't think I paid enough attention to the kids early in the film. I don't know...this one is a bit of a conundrum for me overall, as I couldn't decide if it was brilliant or a cop out, but at the same time I know I want to see it again and i'm very glad I saw it in the theater (which was gloriously empty - me and 5 others, and no one made a sound during either the opening or the closing credits, which was pretty eerie in it's own right. (they play over complete silence))

[Zot!]

I couldn't decide if it was brilliant or a cop out

cop out, what was fresh in Cache was crass and predictable in this, despite that, I was still mesmerized. Rather this than Shutter Island.

[knives]

How was the ending of this in anyway like Cache? In cache it just stopped in the middle, but here there was a true resolution with everything summed up in voice over. That some things are still left ambiguous here doesn't mean it's the same thing as Cache.

[Brian C]

I think I really need the term "cop out" defined in a way that could conceivably apply in this context. How is not supplying a cut-and-dried explanation - and thus satisfying the expectations of the vast majority of the audience - taking the easy way out? I don't expect everyone to like the movie, obviously, but whatever criticisms one may have I think this is a term that's being used somewhat carelessly in this case.

Besides which, how anyone can say that this would have been a better film with a whodunit resolution is beyond me, especially since it hardly seems likely that there's a single explanation for all of the incidents that occur in the film.

[Zot!]

How was the ending of this in anyway like Cache? In cache it just stopped in the middle, but here there was a true resolution with everything summed up in voice over.

Cache also had a "true resolution", albeit a clever visual "trick" instead of a narration.

How is not supplying a cut-and-dried explanation - and thus satisfying the expectations of the vast majority of the audience - taking the easy way out? I don't expect everyone to like the movie, obviously, but whatever criticisms one may have I think this is a term that's being used somewhat carelessly in this case.

For me it is because Haneke goes to such lengths in White Ribbon in particular to adhere to classic film convention (B&W, narration, narrative structure, etc.) that the attempt to be "above" creating a satisfying ending felt contrived and cheap, while the rest of the movie was anything but.

[kekid]

Opening titles often set the tone of a film. Why does Haneke start many of his films with titles so small no-one can read them? Surely he cannot be implying that the film will be as obscure as the titles. If he felt it was not important to read them, he could have skipped them altogether (or at least abbreviated them). If there is an artistic reason for it, I do not get it, so anyone with insight, please tell us.
I find Haneke's films very rewarding. Hence this question is not meant to be a criticism, just a curiosity.

[Brian C]

Opening titles often set the tone of a film. Why does Haneke start many of his films with titles so small no-one can read them? Surely he cannot be implying that the film will be as obscure as the titles. If he felt it was not important to read them, he could have skipped them altogether (or at least abbreviated them). If there is an artistic reason for it, I do not get it, so anyone with insight, please tell us.
I find Haneke's films very rewarding. Hence this question is not meant to be a criticism, just a curiosity.

I don't remember them being particularly small in this case, although I can't say I remember them at all, so I couldn't say either way. Did you watch it in a cinema or at home? Maybe this is a case of something being intended for the big screen losing something in the transition to a home video environment?

[kekid]

Opening titles often set the tone of a film. Why does Haneke start many of his films with titles so small no-one can read them? Surely he cannot be implying that the film will be as obscure as the titles. If he felt it was not important to read them, he could have skipped them altogether (or at least abbreviated them). If there is an artistic reason for it, I do not get it, so anyone with insight, please tell us.
I find Haneke's films very rewarding. Hence this question is not meant to be a criticism, just a curiosity.

I don't remember them being particularly small in this case, although I can't say I remember them at all, so I couldn't say either way. Did you watch it in a cinema or at home? Maybe this is a case of something being intended for the big screen losing something in the transition to a home video environment?

I watched Cache and The White Ribbon, both at home.

[mfunk9786]

In my opinion, Haneke is a great filmmaker who may someday go down as one of the best of our era, but he isn't without his pretensions. I think the opening titles are made with theatrical viewing in mind, home video be damned - intentionally - because he feels that 'true cinephiles' will be seeing them on the big screen.

That being said, I recall the Caché credits being quite impressive in the theater. I'd never seen anything quite like it, and I still consider them some of my favorite opening titles ever [if you're curious (which you're not) I still consider the opening titles of Pierrot le Fou my favorite].

[HistoryProf]

Opening titles often set the tone of a film. Why does Haneke start many of his films with titles so small no-one can read them? Surely he cannot be implying that the film will be as obscure as the titles. If he felt it was not important to read them, he could have skipped them altogether (or at least abbreviated them). If there is an artistic reason for it, I do not get it, so anyone with insight, please tell us.
I find Haneke's films very rewarding. Hence this question is not meant to be a criticism, just a curiosity.

I don't recall them being small....but the silence was deafening. I tried coming up with some reason for complete silence over both the opening and ending credits, but nothing really seemed to stand out in relation to the film itself. I think he just does stuff like that because he can.

[kekid]

In my opinion, Haneke is a great filmmaker who may someday go down as one of the best of our era, but he isn't without his pretensions. I think the opening titles are made with theatrical viewing in mind, home video be damned - intentionally - because he feels that 'true cinephiles' will be seeing them on the big screen.

That being said, I recall the Caché credits being quite impressive in the theater. I'd never seen anything quite like it, and I still consider them some of my favorite opening titles ever [if you're curious (which you're not) I still consider the opening titles of Pierrot le Fou my favorite].

I did see Pierrot le Fou. Godard's pyrotechnics extend to his opening titles. My response to his titles is the same as to that to his films. He is a talented director who compensates for his lack of inspiration with dazzling technique. However, I never refuse to see a film by a director (or listen to a person) with whom I disagree. Hence my attempts to find something I might like in Godard continue.

I agree with you that Haneke is a great filmmaker. Unfortunately I have not had a chance to see any of his fims in theater, so I cannot comment on your observation from experience, but it sounds reasonable to me. Thank you.

[eljacko]

I saw this film last night and loved it. I also disagree with the notion that the ending is weak or a "cop out" because the film is structured from the beginning as being told from the schoolteacher's past. He even says none of it may be true!

Spoiler

So when he finds out nothing, and leaves the town forever, I completely sympathize because what he experienced was really weird, and then he got harassed for searching it out! Moving on with his life seemed like the best option. There is also a series of shots at the end of the film, each one progressively further away from the church, which I think goes along with the "getting out of here" idea.

I'm not completely sure how it relates to the "birth of fascism" theme that was present throughout the film, but I also need to think about the film more.

I don't recall them being small....but the silence was deafening. I tried coming up with some reason for complete silence over both the opening and ending credits, but nothing really seemed to stand out in relation to the film itself. I think he just does stuff like that because he can.

Well, there's also no non-diegetic music throughout the film, so adding some for the end credits would have been (at least in my view) breaking with the tone, particularly when you consider the choir singing as the film fades to black. But I also don't know if that's necessarily a great justification, and I would agree he's (also) doing it because "he can".

[Zot!]

I saw this film last night and loved it. I also disagree with the notion that the ending is weak or a "cop out" because the film is structured from the beginning as being told from the schoolteacher's past. He even says none of it may be true!

Spoiler

So when he finds out nothing, and leaves the town forever, I completely sympathize because what he experienced was really weird, and then he got harassed for searching it out! Moving on with his life seemed like the best option. There is also a series of shots at the end of the film, each one progressively further away from the church, which I think goes along with the "getting out of here" idea.

I think it's turning into a lazy habit for Haneke that bothered me the most. It was expected in The Castle, and a cool gimmick in Cache, but tedious and callow for me in this. I'll shut up about this now, because I've said the same thing a number of times.

[TMDaines]

Artificial Eye

Basic specs:
- Region B locked BD50
- Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video 1080p/23.976 fps / 1.85:1 (OAR) (27916 kbps)
- Audio: German DTS-HD MA 5.1 (16-bit, 1657 kbps)
- Subtitles: Optional English (rather large white font)
- Extras (all of them with English subs):
1) Interview (with Michael Haneke, 1080i50), 14m59s
2) Making of (576i SD PAL), 38m33s
3) Cannes Festival (576i SD PAL), 18m35s
4) Portrait (of Michael Haneke) (576i SD PAL), 50m08s
5) Trailer (1080p), 1m55s

It turns out the disk has more extras than previously announced and I believe it has more extras than both the US and German releases.

[mfunk9786]

If only I had a region free player!

[jbeall]

And I'm so glad I do have a region-free player, since no theater near me is showing this. I was really impressed with The White Ribbon. It'll take awhile to sink in, but I loved the awkward, shy chemistry between the schoolteacher and Eva, and thought the children were all excellent (and I can't stand child actors as a general rule).

An especially interesting film in light of the current Church scandal...