The White Ribbon: The Conclusion

This is Sophie:

"The White Ribbon" was a very intriguing film because it examines the generation that will become Nazi Germany.  I have seen some wonderfully devastating films about victims of the Nazi regime such as "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas", however "The White Ribbon" is the first film I have watched that examines pre-Nazi Germany.

It is difficult to imagine a society that could be so isolating and cold so as to train children to grow up and exterminate an entire population.  It is difficult to imagine because we see, with more sensibility, how disastrous and animalistic the Nazi Regime was.  After seeing this film, however, and understanding how cold parents were towards their children and how all desires were suppressed, more light is shed on how traumatic a culture can be on people, especially young children.

It was a depressing film in many ways, however I found what made the most impact and was most imperative to the overall message was that the film was in black and white and that it did not have the distinctive "ending" that most American films have.  The story was slow to unravel and the society obviously desolate, which made it an interesting film to watch in a class in which pleasure and desire are topics of discussion.