The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke)

We went to a 9:45 pm showing of this 144-minute film, because we were afraid it would leave the theatre before we'd have another chance to see it. Seeing this visually compelling film was worth the effort--and we had no trouble staying awake, though we'd both had had long, long days.

Shot in black and white, and set in pre-WWI rural Germany, the film relates a series of disturbing events plaguing a village. Though it might be comforting to think the events were anamolies, by the movie's end the audience is led to believe the events were merely symptoms of a moral failing endemic to not only the village but German society. As such, the film provides imaginative support for the Goldhagen's thesis (found in his book, Hitler's Willing Executioners) that ordinary Germans not only were aware of Hitler's atrocities but approved of them. What makes the film particularly powerful is the absence of any Jews. All the cruelty is internecine--parents on children, children on weaker children, husbands on wives (and lovers), landholder to peasants--frequently in the name of maintaining the status quo, but equally in an attempt to strike back against the stiffling moral order.

Of course, my quick analysis does not do justice to this deeply, richly complex film.

Highly recommend.