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The White Ribbon (2009) The latest drama from director Michael Haneke ( Caché ) took the Palme d'Or at Cannes, but it's a misanthropic oddball of a movie. Set… Drama Foreign Language War Ulrich Tukur Leonie Benesch Christian Friedel Ernst Jacobi
Movie Review

The White Ribbon (2009)

Reviewed by | Dec 30, 2009

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The White Ribbon | SHADES OF GRAY Christian Friedel and Leonie Benesch star in the oddball movie The White Ribbon .
SHADES OF GRAY Christian Friedel and Leonie Benesch star in the oddball movie The White Ribbon.
EW's GRADE
B-

Details Limited Release: Dec 30, 2009; Genres: Drama, Foreign Language, War; With: Ulrich Tukur

The latest drama from director Michael Haneke (Caché) took the Palme d'Or at Cannes, but it's a misanthropic oddball of a movie. Set in a German village on the eve of World War I, The White Ribbon treats a dozen characters so coldly they could be rats in a maze. Violence plagues the town, and a trio of patriarchal bastards — a doctor, a pastor, and a baron — oppress everyone around them. Yet it's the children you really have to watch out for. Shot in vivid black and white, the movie is like Village of the Damned directed by Ingmar Bergman, only without Bergman's intensity. B–

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Originally posted Dec 30, 2009 Published in issue #1084 Jan 08, 2010 Order article reprints