a film by Michael Haneke
On the eve of World War I, the quiet order of a small protestant village in northern Germany is disturbed by a series of mysterious and inexplicable incidents. To the mounting concern of the villagers, the events persist, becoming increasingly sinister and assuming the characteristics of a perverse punishment ritual. But who is responsible? The story follows the children and teenagers of a choir run by the village schoolteacher, and their families – the baron, the steward, the pastor, the doctor, the midwife, and the tenant farmers of the estate.
The doctor is severely injured when his horse is brought down by a wire placed at knee height. A farmer's wife dies after falling through rotten floorboards. A window is opened to expose a newborn baby to the intense cold of the winter. A field of cabbages on the baron's land are destroyed with a scythe. One of the baron's sons disappears and is later found with his feet and hands bound, having been lashed with a whip. A barn belonging to the manor is set on fire. A farmer hangs himself. A midwife's handicapped child is found tied to a tree in a forest, seriously beaten, with a threatening message on his chest speaking of divine punishment.
Since the beginning of these events, the strict and severe pastor had tied a white ribbon to the arm of his two eldest children, his daughter Klara and son Martin, to remind them of their duty to purity. As the violent and disturbing events begin to escalate, the schoolteacher observes, investigates and little by little discovers the incredible truth.
This brilliant, chilling masterpiece penetrates the surface of an outwardly peaceful and puritanical society to reveal the malevolence and violence beneath – and the terrible consequences they threaten to unleash. Exploring themes of guilt, denial and violence, this haunting and provocative feature was awarded the Palme d'Or at Festival de Cannes 2009.
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