Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

The White Ribbon Blu-ray Movie Review

One of the finer films of the past few years earns a splendid Blu-ray release from Sony.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 30, 2010

I don't know if the story I want to tell you is entirely true.

The White Ribbon. It's a challenging film no doubt, a picture that's structurally beautiful but that resonates with a haunting and difficult uncertainty. It's a film mired in outrageous acts that are more often than not spoken of but not seen. It's an intellectual Horror movie if there ever was one; it's deliberate, steadfast in tone, and sometimes agonizingly difficult to watch, not because it's in any way poorly constructed or dull, but because it's so effective at building a disquieting atmosphere that's every bit as intense as the most visually-robust Horror pictures, except here The White Ribbon grates on the nerves and the mind and torments the heart and the soul rather than simply shocking the eyes and ears. The White Ribbon is the antithesis of modern genre filmmaking; it features a classic, throwback style not only through its lack of color but via its ability to linger, to build a narrative through words and feelings rather than visuals and sound, to frighten and enthrall not without purpose but with a purpose of demonstrating that evil may exist anywhere and everywhere, around the corner, in a friend's home, in the doctor's office, in the sanctuary of the church, in the place of work, in the company of family.

And so it begins.

The time is 1913, a year before Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand would be assassinated, an event that would usher in the beginning of World War I. The place is Eichwald, a small, closely-knit German village that's about to become home to a string of suspicious and malicious acts of violence with no discernible purpose, no true suspects, and only mounting tensions, fears, doubts, and finger-pointing. It begins with an injured doctor, his horse tumbling over a taught wire wrapped around two trees, the accident leaving the town's physician in the hospital for some time. Later, the wife of a local farmer perishes in a dubious accident at the local sawmill; she'd only recently been transferred to tend to that position. Just as it seems that these unfortunate accidents have passed from memory with time, the town's yearly harvest feast is interrupted by the destruction of a cabbage field. It doesn't take long for the town to become mired in despair and doubt as each act seems to beget another, with the violence, hate, and vengefulness of each seemingly topping the one previous. No matter the season, no matter the fleeting joys, and no matter efforts to bring to an end that which plagues the town, it would seem that Eichwald -- for all its posturing and efforts to the contrary -- cannot escape the specter of evil that lingers within its borders.

In The White Ribbon, the titular object is defined as an item that represents innocence and purity, but within the context of the film, neither attribute seems to exist beyond the symbolism of an inanimate object. Of course, the crux of the picture seems to gently and discretely question what is pure and innocent and what is not. Characters are chastised for performing natural pubescent acts of their own accord and of their own bodies; does purity and innocence supersede the laws of nature? There's what appears to be a tit-for-tat series of retaliatory strikes throughout the film between warring families; is there justification for taking an eye for an eye, or does purity and innocence demand turning the other cheek? It seems that "the white ribbon" -- both here in the film and beyond the boundaries of fiction and cinema in the real world -- is more of a hope, something to strive for, than it is something that could be adhered to without fail; it would seem that "purity" and "innocence" might be better defined by a degree than an absolute, and perhaps The White Ribbon is attempting to define a middle ground by demonstrating a series of extremes whereby it's impossible to live and wrong to demand an absolutely pure and innocent lifestyle that's without sin, but that it's also wrong to eschew those ideals completely and exist in a place where abusing the handicapped, molesting a child, speaking poorly of a person in their company, or any other number of more obvious actions that are absent purity and innocence are commonplace.

At one point in the film, a character describes her surroundings -- the film's setting -- as a place defined by "malice, envy, apathy and brutality" which engender "persecutions, threats and perverse acts of revenge." That's about as pointed and blunt as it gets with The White Ribbon. It sounds an awful lot like Se7en meets Saw, and at a very base level it is, but such a comparison is absent many of the picture's fundamental elements and certainly far from accurate in terms of the film's visual tone and structure. It's neither a Thriller nor a traditional Horror picture; it's something unique, something uniquely foreign compared to most mainstream American films, and that's not only because the picture happens to be in German. It's a movie that's so painstakingly deliberate -- it's the antithesis of typical American mainstream summer movie Michael Bay fare -- that it demands multiple viewings to reach a point where the film at least moves beyond its base story and starts to resonate with a deeper and more purposeful aura. That's not to say that all viewers will find in The White Ribbon the same meaning or purpose. It's a thinking man's picture to be sure, a layered experience that's slow but never dull, one that yields an uncomfortable atmosphere that's never quite complete or even absolutely coherent, but then again, it would seem, playing it straight and focused -- which would lessen the thematic and emotional impacts of the story -- is not its objective.

The White Ribbon seems to remove the barrier between screen and moviegoer; gone is the sense that one is merely observing the goings-on inside the movie, the picture instead engendering a sense of immersion that brings the viewer into Eichwald and almost makes him or her a participant -- or at least an interested party -- in the affairs of the deteriorating village. The picture's deliberate pacing and slow-to-develop actions, situations, and themes only enhance the sense of unease and, ultimately, displeasure with what plays out on the screen, a displeasure that's directed squarely at the characters and their actions, and not at the film itself. Certainly, The White Ribbon is about as structurally sound and technically magnificent as movies get. Director Michael Haneke's camerawork almost disappears, further enticing the audience to leave the boundaries of the cinema and enter into his emotionally distasteful yet visually gorgeous world. More often than not, Haneke eschews both excess camera movement and rapid-fire editing in favor of shots that linger for extended periods, allowing for the full brunt of the action to settle deep into the audience's psyche, which only heightens the picture's ability to seamlessly construct one of modern cinema's most disheartening worlds. Additionally, The White Ribbon is splendidly cast and meticulously acted. Every character feels like a real person rather than a fictional creation portrayed by a third party. It's this total immersion, alongside a magnificently-realized cautionary tale on the dangers of idealistic excess, that makes The White Ribbon not a good movie, but a great one.

The White Ribbon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Sony's Blu-ray release of The White Ribbon yields a gorgeous 1080p black-and-white transfer framed at a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The absence of color is in no way a hindrance to the quality of the picture; detail is immaculate throughout, with character faces and the village's pebbly dirt roads in particular revealing of the transfer's capabilities. There's no shortage of clarity across the board; even distant shots of the landscape and the textured wood and brick building façades and accents never lack in even the most intricate of details. Black levels are more often than not splendid, though there is a hint of crushing evident in several scenes. Still, it's the film's bright exterior daytime scenes that showcase the image's strengths. Clarity is beyond exceptional; the image is consistently sharp and deep, with several scenes taking on an almost 3D-like quality, and most every frame in some way demonstrates a perceptible level of depth. The White Ribbon's Blu-ray transfer does feature some grain; it's more pronounced in some scenes than in others, and while a random speckle or two also appear atop the image, they're not intrusive to the presentation. The White Ribbon represents another fine high definition transfer from Sony, and it's also a splendid example of how good a black-and-white image can look when presented with proper care and attention to detail.

The White Ribbon Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The White Ribbon's Blu-ray release is graced with a high quality DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack, presented with both native German and dubbed English options. The White Ribbon's soundtrack yields positive, strong, and focused dialogue, its narration in particular nicely resolved and infinitely crisp and discernible. Music is wonderfully clear and absent any sense that it's artificial and not live; a flute practice session early in the film features several light notes that float into the soundstage as if they were being performed live, allowing the speakers to disappear in favor of the breezy and impeccably accurate presentation. Additionally, Sony's track creates a wonderfully light but absorbing and seamless small-town atmosphere; the surround speakers are engaged with minor but nevertheless critical nuances that help absorb the listener into the various environments seen throughout the film, whether indoors, in the town proper, or in the surrounding wooded areas where birds, insects, light winds, and other natural elements spill into the soundstage with an effortlessness that ranks up there with the finer Blu-ray presentations. There are no action-like powerful components to be found, but a piercing whistle heard late in the film represents the track's most aggressive element. Generally, however, this is something of a reserved and contemplative listen; it suits the movie well, and Sony's lossless soundtrack is wonderful in that context.

The White Ribbon Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sony brings The White Ribbon to Blu-ray with a fair collection of extra content, though notably absent is an audio commentary track. The supplements begin with Making of 'The White Ribbon' (480p, 38:40), a subtitled piece that features Director Michael Haneke exploring the process of brining the picture to life. He speaks on filming locales, the specifics of the shoot, the casting process, the picture's themes, the purpose behind the black-and-white presentation, and much more. The comments are interrupted for some candid behind-the-scenes segments -- including interviews with cast members -- that prove both entertaining and enlightening. My Life (480p, 50:09) takes an extended look at the life and times of Director Michael Haneke; this film is assembled through interviews with the director and those closest to him, as well as photographs, clips from his works, and other video sources as they all provide glimpses into his style, the themes of his works, his beliefs, and his personal life. Fans of the director will be pleased with this piece. Cannes Film Festival Premiere (480p, 18:36) takes viewers onto the red carpet for The White Ribbon's premiere, press conference, and award presentation. An Interview with Michael Haneke (480p, 14:08) provides Haneke fans further opportunity to glean insight from the director as he speaks about The White Ribbon. Also included is The White Ribbon theatrical trailer (1080p, 2:22) and additional 1080p trailers for The Secret in Their Eyes, Get Low, A Prophet, Chloe, The Last Station , Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky, Waltz With Bashir, and Wild Grass.

The White Ribbon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The White Ribbon is, perhaps, 2009's most intellectually-challenging and soulfully-stirring picture, but it's a picture that every cinephile need experience for its ability to construct such a disquieting atmosphere and deliver such a positively horrifying experience in a manner that visually suggests something entirely unassuming. What, exactly, it is that the film is trying to convey seems better left to each audience member. Is it a cautionary tale of the dangers of violence begetting violence; a glimpse into the human condition at its most raw level; an artful Horror picture; a story that examines the potential dangers of idealism taken to the extreme; or nothing more and nothing less than a simple story told about as visually simply but, at the same time, thematically and emotionally complexly as any other picture in recent memory? That's the film's true strength; it's not a cut-and-dry experience, and audiences in search of a movie that's emotionally stimulating, intellectually challenging, and visually unique will want to visit The White Ribbon several times over, even if the film is often nothing short of a difficult watch -- for all the right reasons. Sony's Blu-ray release, no surprise, sparkles. Featuring a nearly pristine 1080p transfer, a wonderful lossless soundtrack, and a fair assortment of extras (that focus more on the director than the movie), The White Ribbon need become a permanent addition to any and every serious Blu-ray collection. Highly recommended.