The White Ribbon is Michael Haneke’s gift of a marvellous, well crafted, thought provoking film, which is what he's been making throughout his career. This time the setting is a village in northern Germany in 1913-4. The film begins with the unsettling image of a doctor being thrown from his horse, who tripped on a wire left between two trees. The story continues to unsettle for the next two or so hours, and as well for a long time after the film has finished. We are presented with a series of spiteful and vicious events that leave a number of questions about humanity and decency. It's as if the ideal and peaceful village is being sullied in preparation for the decades of horror that are about to come. The title refers to a white ribbon the Pastor insists on his daughter tying in her hair and his son on his arm as a reminder of purity and an insurance against slipping into sinful ways. I was reminded whilst watching the film of Robert Kennedy saying ‘All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing’
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