The White Ribbon

Alison Rowat

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Published on 12 Nov 2009

Beautiful, haunting and breathtakingly brutal, this year’s Palme d’Or winner is pure Michael Haneke.

The Austrian director’s tale of strange goings on in a German village is a masterclass in building tension.

Shot in black and white and set in the months before the First World War, The White Ribbon begins with a doctor falling from his horse after a wire has been stretched between two trees. Who was responsible for this, and the many other callous acts that follow?

The film is coloured by what we know is to come in German history, but Haneke offers no pat answers to the obvious questions about national character and much else that come to mind. Not an easy picture to embrace, and at 145 minutes something of a marathon, but once the story falls into place it holds your attention like a wire rope.

The White Ribbon (15)

****

Dir: Michael Haneke

With: Marisa Growaldt, Ulrich Tukur, Christian Friedel

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is Scottish Political Editor of the Sunday Herald, based in Edinburgh and the Scottish Parliament. Born and raised in Glasgow, he entered journalism in 1998 and has worked principally for the Herald group since 2001.
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is the UK Political Editor, trying to see through the spin, counter-spin, rumour and counter-rumour that Westminster and Whitehall generate each day. After serving on the journalistic frontline in Lancashire, Yorkshire and Wales, he has worked 10 years with The Herald and been in the Lobby for 14, making him a hard-bitten veteran - almost.
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has worked on national daily newspapers in Scotland for more than 35 years. He joined The Herald in 1987 and became Scottish Political Correspondent in 1994, as Tony Blair developed an aversion to the Caledonian press corps and a London newspaper invented a character called Robbie McAngrybeard.
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is the Westminster Editor of the Sunday Herald. He is one of the most experienced members of the Lobby and before joining the Sunday Herald in 2001, worked in London for the Independent and the Sunday Times, and as senior producer at BBC Newsnight. James is also an experienced broadcaster, offering regular analysis on Westminster for CNN and the BBC.
Stewart Paterson

is Political Correspondent with the Evening Times, dividing his time between the Scottish Parliament and the Glasgow newsroom. Stewart first joined Scotland’s best-selling evening paper in June 2000 as news reporter, and after six years moved to The Herald. In 2009 he returned to cover politics for the Evening Times.