Five reasons to be excited about Saturday night's screening of "The White Ribbon":
1. It was directed by Michael Haneke. A new Haneke movie is always an event, whether the movie itself is great ("Caché") or not ("Funny Games U.S."). He is a truly talented director whose movies are impeccably made, never boring, and always provocative.
2. It won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year, against an extraordinary field of movies including Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds", Campion's "Bright Star", Von Trier's "Antichrist", Resnais' "Les Herbes Folles", and many others.
3. It also got some great critical buzz out of Cannes. Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian said "The White Ribbon has an absolute confidence and mastery of its own cinematic language, and the performances Haneke elicits from his first-rate cast, particularly the children, are eerily perfect."
4. It's shot in black and white. I'm not one of those purists who would say that "black and white is always better than color!", but I definitely love the texture of a black and white movie -- especially one that is shot as this one undoubtedly is.
5. It's set in a German village in the days leading up to World War I, and involves a group of school children and a series of "suspicious accidents". I'm intrigued.
"The White Ribbon" screens at Eau Claire, Saturday night at 6:30. I know I'll be there early!
