The Abiding Sadness of Michael Haneke's White Ribbon
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Richard Peña, Translator and Michael Haneke at The White Ribbon press conf."]
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There were varied reactions after yesterday's screening of the Palme d'Or winning The White Ribbon at the New York Film Festival. On one hand, it is every bit as brutal and bleak as Caché--almost to a startling degree to some fellow viewers sitting around the first few rows. But on the other hand, If you want proof the Cannes Film Festival is a joke, then look no further than this Children of the Corn remake that won.
Of course, being mainstream is the least productive thing on Michael Haneke's mind these days.
"I chose this period in [Germany] because it offers the most prominent form of extremism in any kind," he said through a translator during the press conference. The question related to whether Haneke's choice of Ribbon's setting a scarce few months prior to World War I was an attempt to symbolize the constant despair and violence committed. Yet in his continued worldview, "it would be an error to reduce the film rather to this specific period and country."
In the Haneke mind-set, everyone is at some point guilty of the violence they will inevitably cause. Ribbon, as told by an elderly sounding narrator who we learn is a 31-year old schoolteacher, is primarily about children inheriting and dealing with the sins of their parents. Whether it be incest, abuse, implied revenge or good ol' fashioned senseless violence, Haneke's film strives to remind us that this is universal.
But different strokes for different folks, as some German speakers in the audience took note with Haneke's "dumbing down" and "formalizing" within the subtitles.
"That's the reason for the subtitle that appears underneath on screen written in old fashioned German writing," Haneke said. In fact, beneath the title is -"A German Children's Tale."
Others--namely one woman--saw many similarities with Arthur Miller's The Cruicible, which provided a strange peek into the audience's mind since the same question was later asked of Pedro Almodovar at the Broken Embraces press conference. Despite the argument of modern ideas and culture, Haneke's Ribbon is bleak. Quite intentionally so, according to the director, who used black and white imagery to force "spectactors," as he calls the audience, to "think about the period...for that reason it's easier for [them] to enter the period. Black and white always makes a certain distance in [them.]"
Much like anything he does, there's also a darker motive to contrast his seemingly pretty conversatinon piece.
"It works against the claim of reproducing reality in the same way that the film begins--with the narrator and the tale he wants to tell us...the film never claims it is offering accurate depictions of what took place, rather it offers artifacts and always tries to rouse a sense of mistrust in the audience," he said.
The defining moment of the conference came at the end, as a question about Haneke's striking use of symmetry and framing came into play. The shots setting the consistantly depressing mood and idea that nothing can be repaired. But also, the questioner said, "I just wonder whether you have some abiding sadness in you."
The entire theater burst into laughter, but it did not deter Haneke at all. In a strange way, it further defines his mode of thought:
"The framing corresponds also to my choice of black and white and the narrator. I'm trying as much as possible in my film to create this possible space for the spectator where the spectator will develop a certain freedom with respect to the image. Out of respect for [them] I try to reduce that manipulation as much as possible. That said you can't avoid a certain manipulation in the first place. I try to give [them] the freedom to develop a certain standpoint on what they're witnessing...that's behind the decision I make for every aspect of the film, not only in terms of the script but also the framing."
As for his sadness, "I don't think I'm a depressive person myself. You probably best ask my wife whose sitting at the back of the theater."
And for the second time that morning, the theater erupted into laughter as heads turned and scoured the seats for a glimpse of Haneke's wife.
"Drama has the obligation to deal with conflict," he said. "Which we confront in our daily lives. That's our responsibility to deal with this. I'm always surprised by mainstream cinema that seeks to sweep under the carpet, or make harmless, very serious questions. I respect the spectator so much I want to take seriously the questions that he or she is confronted with; problems that aren't so funny at all. There are enough specialists for films for the easily amused-- I don't think someone should ask a cobbler to make a hat."
-John Lichman
[/caption]There were varied reactions after yesterday's screening of the Palme d'Or winning The White Ribbon at the New York Film Festival. On one hand, it is every bit as brutal and bleak as Caché--almost to a startling degree to some fellow viewers sitting around the first few rows. But on the other hand, If you want proof the Cannes Film Festival is a joke, then look no further than this Children of the Corn remake that won.
Of course, being mainstream is the least productive thing on Michael Haneke's mind these days.
"I chose this period in [Germany] because it offers the most prominent form of extremism in any kind," he said through a translator during the press conference. The question related to whether Haneke's choice of Ribbon's setting a scarce few months prior to World War I was an attempt to symbolize the constant despair and violence committed. Yet in his continued worldview, "it would be an error to reduce the film rather to this specific period and country."
In the Haneke mind-set, everyone is at some point guilty of the violence they will inevitably cause. Ribbon, as told by an elderly sounding narrator who we learn is a 31-year old schoolteacher, is primarily about children inheriting and dealing with the sins of their parents. Whether it be incest, abuse, implied revenge or good ol' fashioned senseless violence, Haneke's film strives to remind us that this is universal.
But different strokes for different folks, as some German speakers in the audience took note with Haneke's "dumbing down" and "formalizing" within the subtitles.
"That's the reason for the subtitle that appears underneath on screen written in old fashioned German writing," Haneke said. In fact, beneath the title is -"A German Children's Tale."
Others--namely one woman--saw many similarities with Arthur Miller's The Cruicible, which provided a strange peek into the audience's mind since the same question was later asked of Pedro Almodovar at the Broken Embraces press conference. Despite the argument of modern ideas and culture, Haneke's Ribbon is bleak. Quite intentionally so, according to the director, who used black and white imagery to force "spectactors," as he calls the audience, to "think about the period...for that reason it's easier for [them] to enter the period. Black and white always makes a certain distance in [them.]"
Much like anything he does, there's also a darker motive to contrast his seemingly pretty conversatinon piece.
"It works against the claim of reproducing reality in the same way that the film begins--with the narrator and the tale he wants to tell us...the film never claims it is offering accurate depictions of what took place, rather it offers artifacts and always tries to rouse a sense of mistrust in the audience," he said.
The defining moment of the conference came at the end, as a question about Haneke's striking use of symmetry and framing came into play. The shots setting the consistantly depressing mood and idea that nothing can be repaired. But also, the questioner said, "I just wonder whether you have some abiding sadness in you."
The entire theater burst into laughter, but it did not deter Haneke at all. In a strange way, it further defines his mode of thought:
"The framing corresponds also to my choice of black and white and the narrator. I'm trying as much as possible in my film to create this possible space for the spectator where the spectator will develop a certain freedom with respect to the image. Out of respect for [them] I try to reduce that manipulation as much as possible. That said you can't avoid a certain manipulation in the first place. I try to give [them] the freedom to develop a certain standpoint on what they're witnessing...that's behind the decision I make for every aspect of the film, not only in terms of the script but also the framing."
As for his sadness, "I don't think I'm a depressive person myself. You probably best ask my wife whose sitting at the back of the theater."
And for the second time that morning, the theater erupted into laughter as heads turned and scoured the seats for a glimpse of Haneke's wife.
"Drama has the obligation to deal with conflict," he said. "Which we confront in our daily lives. That's our responsibility to deal with this. I'm always surprised by mainstream cinema that seeks to sweep under the carpet, or make harmless, very serious questions. I respect the spectator so much I want to take seriously the questions that he or she is confronted with; problems that aren't so funny at all. There are enough specialists for films for the easily amused-- I don't think someone should ask a cobbler to make a hat."
-John Lichman
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