The American Spectator : The White Ribbon

Text Size

The White Ribbon

By James Bowman on 1.15.10 @ 6:02AM

Michael Haneke should be seen as the German version of Steven Spielberg.

Michael Haneke should be seen as the German version of Steven Spielberg: a film-maker of genius whose mind, apart from the film-making part of it, lacks the commensurate originality and resource required for artistic production of the highest sort. In The White Ribbon (Das weiße Band) all his considerable powers are arrayed for no better purpose than the reiteration of one of the 20th century's most shopworn clichés -- albeit one that the movies have never grown tired of repeating. This is the pacifist belief that "violence" can be reverse-engineered out of existence by eliminating "repression" and all forms of physical or even mental discipline in child-rearing. "Those to whom evil is done/Do evil in return" wrote Auden back in the 1930s with Nazi Germany in mind, and Mr. Haneke takes the same maxim back a generation earlier, to Wilhelmine Germany on the eve of World War I and a Protestant village plagued by "Youth in Revolt" -- only surreptitiously, against the strictness of their parents and teachers.

The film's subtitle, Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte or a German Children's Story, suggests an evocation of traditional German culture's fondness for strict discipline, especially when backed by the austere Protestant religious sensibility that is here represented by the village's Lutheran pastor (Burghart Klaußner). The pastor's son, Martin (Leonard Proxauf), is humiliated and punished by his father for masturbation in the film's paradigmatic example of paternal discipline. Both he and his sister, Klara (Maria-Victoria Dragus), are made to wear in public the white ribbon of shame, and we are meant to understand without its being made explicit that the unexplained series of accidents, vandalism, and criminal assaults in the village is their and the other children's revenge on their elders -- a sort of class-action in protest at a world of cruelty visited by the old upon the young, men upon women, the rich upon the poor, and the able-bodied upon the disabled.

The date of the film's setting, 1914, clearly suggests an indictment of this culture of cruelty (as Mr. Haneke sees it) as the cause of the First World War, which then led on, presumably, by the tit-for-tat principle, to the Second and all its horrors. Martin and the other children are thus prototype Nazis presumably driven to their excesses by the too-strict discipline of their parents. Well, it's a theory. I don't buy it myself. Sure, violence begets violence. But so does nonviolence in the form of weakness and cowardice. In truth, violence is pretty much a given of the human condition and doesn't need the excuse of "repression" or a tolerance for corporal punishment to be called into existence. Nor is human behavior so easily manipulated as the pacifist and utopian progressives imagine. Those who are unprepared to resist evil will provoke it as surely as those who do evil themselves. Maybe more surely.

In any case, I've heard this theory many times before, especially in the movies where it has become pretty hard to find any other account of the roots of violence and cruelty. David Cronenberg's History of Violence of 2005 is a particularly striking recent example of the Haneke thesis, and Oliver Stone is now said to be working on a project for Showtime to be called "The Secret History of America" that will be a typically cruder version of it. "Hitler is an easy scapegoat throughout history, and it's been used cheaply," Mr. Stone has been quoted as saying -- as usual, with no apparent sense of his own ridiculousness. The late German dictator is said to be "the product of a series of actions. It's cause and effect.... People in America don't know the connection between WWI and WWII." Thus Oliver Stone. Aren't we lucky, then, to have been given a heads-up by a much more accomplished and subtle film-maker than Mr. Stone is?

But I would have resented having to sit through yet another propaganda exercise striking the same old familiar note even more than I did if Mr. Haneke's cinematic magic had done a less impressive job of re-creating a world now, like Darlin' Clementine, lost and gone forever. So much about his little German village rings true, so much draws us into the parts of this bleak and monochromatic community that his black-and-white film allows us to see that we can't help wishing to see the other parts. What might a little joy or happiness have done for it? If only he had allowed into his sinister world a bit more of the variety, cheerfulness, beauty, and mystery that surely must have been there, instead of trying so hard to make all his characters prove the same point by turning the film into what even the New York Times reviewer called "a veritable theme park of patriarchal abuses"! That would have been something worth seeing.

It's true that, rather daringly, the author does include one sympathetic character, who is the village schoolmaster (Christian Friedel) and who acts as a spokesman for himself and the postwar German sensibility which is also that of the international film culture whose laurels have already been heaped upon the film. There is something almost heartwarming in the story of this character's courtship of Eva (Leonie Benesch), a pale, pretty girl who comes to the village briefly as governess to the spoiled son of the Baron (Ulrich Tukur) before being unceremoniously (and unjustly) dismissed. But their story is too peripheral to that of the secrets and lies, the guilt, hatred, and violence in the midst of which the rest of the village lives to be at all redeeming of it. Ultimately, Michael Haneke looks no higher than Oliver Stone does in his eagerness to give the liberal consensus something to congratulate itself about.

About the Author

James Bowman, our movie and culture critic, is a resident scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. He is the author of Honor: A History and Media Madness: The Corruption of Our Political Culture, both published by Encounter Books.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (24) | Leave a comment

MikeN| 1.15.10 @ 9:51AM

If they could sanitize Che, why not Hitler?
The Autobahn Diaries, a young idealist takes a ride of a lifetime, with the hit song The Other Side of the Rhine.

Alan Brooks| 1.15.10 @ 10:51PM

"In truth, violence is pretty much a given of the human condition and doesn't need the excuse of "repression" or a tolerance for corporal punishment to be called into existence. Nor is human behavior so easily manipulated as the pacifist and utopian progressives imagine. Those who are unprepared to resist evil will provoke it as surely as those who do evil themselves. Maybe more surely. "

Mr. Bowman, this alone-- but not exclusively-- demonstrates you are a first class writer and conservative who could write on any topic.

Emanuelle Goldstein| 1.16.10 @ 12:12PM

From what I've heard, Oliver Stone is working on this.

DanMcL| 9.2.10 @ 1:09AM

I have to laugh at those of you out there who talk about discipline, rectitude, toughness, blah, blah, blah, and how somehow conservatives (whoever you mean by that) are ethically and morally more clear headed than those who find something worthy in Haneke's film.
Hitler's easy to hate. It's a no brainer, which all of you have proven qualified to answer. But conservatives found it fine to support Samoza, fine to support Pinochet, fine to engineer the death of Allende, fine to support Saddam when it served our morally unquestionable superiority (because he would send wave after wave of death against Iran, whom we needed to punish for their misdeeds).
God, I hope you never catch your sons or daughters masturbating, or more frightening no doubt, I hope they never catch you squeezing one off.

KidsRpeople2| 1.15.10 @ 10:35AM

It is a "dirty little secret" that children continue to be struck with boards for School "Discipline" purposes in 20 PREDOMINANTLY SOUTHERN states, while in stark constrast it is Illegal for school employees to do so in schools in 30 states! It is a dangerous practice that is not evidence based and puts the U.S. at odds with over 100 countries that have banned it.

The Southern Education Foundation recently issued a report that the South is the First U.S. with a Majority of Low-Income (living in Poverty) and Minority Students in Southern Schools, that a large number of graduates will come from educational deprivation, which will have tremendous implications.

At his Senate confirmation hearing in February, Arne Duncan succinctly summarized the Obama administration's approach to education reform: "We must build upon what works. We must stop doing what doesn't work."

Controversy is raging as evidenced by media coverage of 3 Multi-Million Dollar College Football Coaches fired since the end of the season for Abusing College Student Athletes.

Teachers and coaches are not required to adhere to any standard "Code of Ethics". The U.S. is the only country that has not ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. Let us hope all the media attention regarding abuse of students by those paid to be entrusted with their care and education will result in pressure on U.S. Government Officials and local Politicians to stop ignoring Children's Fundamental Human Rights by ABOLISHING Physical/Corporal Punishment of Children in Schools Immediately, the cost is $0!

Rank and File| 1.15.10 @ 11:28AM

Where are all the damn Conservative novelists, historians, and writers? There are good stories out there about permissiveness and Chamberlain-esque appeasement. Where is the script about sitting idly by, watching your enemies slowly and deliberately rise up and utterly destroy you, due to your own inaction and cowardice? The examples are perhaps too numerous to mention. This garden-variety 60's tripe about the dangers of holding people accountable for their actions is so tired. Why can't the next big blockbuster be about a peace-loving nation that decides to abandon self-defense and ignore the swell of atrocities developing in a long-time rival, who, no thanks to the pacifist nation’s willful indifference, rises up and destroys them and nearly destroys the whole civilized world? Where is the screen play about that? That's the real story, not this garbage about how if you treat lions and scorpions like pets, they'll love you for it with tickles and candy. Somehow it just doesn't work that way. Too bad Hollywood hasn't figured that out.

Mike| 1.15.10 @ 11:34AM

Wow KidRPeople2

Get a grip. Your post is a prime example of what happens when you dumb down. When sleep deprivation is torture, Sunday morning regrets are Saturday night "Date Rape" and firing a football coach for "abuse" is important news then I am afraid we may have already lost.

When you live in a sheltered world you can pretend that the rest of the world is just like your pristine shelter. Reality is a bit different.

Mike Johnston
SFC USA (RET)

Seek| 1.15.10 @ 11:40AM

Rank and File:

There are more conservative films in recent years than you'd like to admit. They may not be overtly political, but the conservative subtext is there. Seek and ye shall find.

Rank and File| 1.15.10 @ 4:37PM

True.
I don't mean to imply that there aren't conservative themes. They're definitely out there. Those recognized by Hollywood with Oscars and accolades tend not to be, however. The dominant themes are pretty antithetical to the real lessons in life. Much ado about feel-goodery and anti-establishment themes.

Alan Brooks| 1.15.10 @ 10:51PM

Mr. Bowman, this alone-- but not exclusively-- demonstrate you are a first class writer and conservative who could write on any topic.

besthdsoft| 1.16.10 @ 2:37AM

Thank you so much for this post, it was very insightful!
I have found a direct conversion software,

blu-ray dvd converter is designed for backup your favorite Blu-ray DVD movie to your computer by converting Blu-ray DVD to AVI, DivX, XviD, DVD, WMV, MPEG4 MOV, MKV, FLV, etc. with almost same quality, And Blu-ray To HD Video supports converting Blu-ray to HD formats, such as HD AVI, HD MPEG, HD MOV, AVC, HD WMV, etc.

Unger| 1.17.10 @ 12:47PM

Auden was quoted as an exemplar of a leftist who believed repression caused violence. Maybe Auden did believe this, I don't know, but I give you this Auden poem (one of my favorites) as a counter-example.

There Will Be No Peace

Unger| 1.17.10 @ 12:51PM

The poem ends:

There will be no peace.
Fight back, then, with such courage as you have
And every unchivalrous dodge you know of,
Clear in your conscience on this:
Their cause, if they had one, is nothing to them now;
They hate for hate's sake.

led miner light| 11.25.10 @ 1:46AM

In short, just as we still rely on nation-states for international security, we must still rely on national governments to protect individual rights. Your freedom still depends on where you live.

Christopher Holland| 1.17.10 @ 10:21PM

Liberals like Oliver Stone are too arrogant and stupid to understand that Hitler, like other tyrants before and since, despised intellectuals like them. Hitler thought they were gutless and stupid and easily fooled or bought off by lies and propaganda about autobahns and folk festivals. Stone has all the benefits of hindsight and he is still stupid - they don't come dumber than that. Being wise with the benefit of hindsight makes you a lot smarter than being stupid with the benefit of hindsight, but there goes Oliver Stone.

Ed| 1.18.10 @ 2:50PM

This movie isn't about pacifism (at all), but thanks for the tired marshalling of that straw man litany. The origin of violence in Haneke is always essentially aporetic, and often directed inwards.

Office 2007 Professional| 1.29.10 @ 1:59AM

Office 2007 Professional
Office 2007 Ultimate

Tommy| 2.9.10 @ 3:07PM

Just wanted to say that this was an embarrassing review, from someone who clearly didn't get the movie. I don't mean to imply that anyone necessarily had to enjoy it, but to argue that the message is "violence begets violence" is, honestly, embarrassing. Those against whom violence is committed are not the future "committers" of violence, but the next generation's sheep. Seriously, watch the movie again, keeping that in mind. You totally missed the point, which is a shame, considering this is your job.

www.us-bapeoutlet.com| 4.2.10 @ 10:04PM

www.us-bapeoutlet.com

Daniel J| 7.12.10 @ 10:59AM

One commenter asks why there are not more conservative movies, as opposed to "feel-goodery." I wouldn't say The White Ribbon left me feeling very good. However, I think a lot of Clint Eastwood's movies would be pleasing to a conservative crowd. I also recently saw the playwright David Mamet interviewed, he seems kind of conservative and has produced a new play called "Race." Might be worth checking out.

Catherine Gamito| 11.28.10 @ 11:38AM

I think in this movie there are a lot of different themes at play, and I don't think the director could anymore articulate most of them than could the average film critic. Films, being visual, raise as many questions as life itself; and this film left me pondering the source and nature of evil no less than the events of World War II.

Cameron Edwards| 12.28.10 @ 7:27AM

I just watched "The White Ribbon" and immediately googled it to see if I could find discussion on the last shot where the priest joins the congregation. And I find this? Sad to think that a conservative diatribe prevents you from even acknowledging a great film these days. "The White Ribbon" was a film about zeitgeist, a story of what lead to the bizarre sparks of anxiety and movement that propelled Europe into the throws of World War I. In classic Haneke form, you don't get to find out 'who did it' or even why, the fact that it's done is enough to make you uncomfortable. But that's fine. You can sit there and mull over liberal conspiracies and how they surely have infected an average film that must be linked to political movements and an intellectual disease. You people are losers, will always be losers, and the sooner you all succumb and drink the Kool-Aid, the better the rest of the world will be.

There is no liberal conspiracy. You just missed out on enjoying a brilliant film.

Kudos.