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The White Ribbon is anything but a date movie. The everyday title leaves no clue that the film content is so oppressive to watch. Presented in German with English subtitles, The White Ribbon is a disturbing portrait of a generation of children growing up in the pre-World War I German countryside. These might look like ordinary children, but they are different, for these children will grow up to become Nazis.
Austrian writer-director Michael Haneke's thesis in this fictional tale is that the abusive childhoods these individuals suffered shaped them into adults ready to commit genocide. Psychologists have long argued that one's childhood determines one's actions as an adult, and Haneke does an excellent job in conveying the punishing upbringings. The children's eyes say everything without speaking. There are toddlers on the brink of madness, such as when little Rudi naively asks his older sister about the meaning of death—then smashes his cup to the floor when he doesn't like her answers.
The plot revolves around a series of mysterious accidents occurring in a Protestant village. However, there are hints that the crimes were committed by these angelic-looking children who are forced to wear a white ribbon as a symbol of their supposed virtue. The only respite from the bleak village life is the budding love story between the kind schoolteacher and the Baron's nanny. There is little violence on screen. Instead, the director wisely makes us guess what is occurring behind closed doors.
Irony is in high display as Haneke uses effectively to make his case. For example, the scene of bathing the group of children in heavenly white light is fantastic because of the evil lurking beneath the surface. Haneke was originally inspired by a series of vintage black and white photos depicting Germans living in a country village before World War I. The film scenes are clipped and cold, as is the German language.
At the end of the film, we are left with more questions than answers. However, it is interesting to compare The White Ribbon children to the Von Trapp children in the Sound of Music. When the latter kids are reared by their militaristic father, they take delight in tormenting their governesses. After Sister Maria teaches them to sing, literally and emotionally, the Von Trapps soften. By contrast, the White Ribbon children remain oppressed, and they grow up to be heartless adults.
It is difficult to grasp the statistic that six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust; however, if we know one person who went through this event, it can become terrifyingly real. My grandfather endured the horrors of Auschwitz for 67 months. Yet even in this dehumanizing existence, his basic humanity and goodness was able to shine through when he chose to save another man's life by sharing his meager rations – potato peels – with him. These quiet, unsung acts of heroism in the camps brighten this dark era and lend hope to the countless stories of despair and death.
No matter how many creative geniuses and psychoanalysts dissect why the Nazis killed millions of innocent men, women, and children, we will never truly understand why they did it. Rather, it is our responsibility to testify that it did indeed happen, so that it will never happen again.
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