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    • BLU-RAY REVIEW

    White Ribbon, The

    Featured In Issue 149, July/August/September 2010

    Picture5
    Sound2.5
    WSR Score2
    Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
    (Studio/Distributor):
    Sony Pictures Classics
    (Catalog Number):
    35216
    (MPAA Rating):
    R
    (Rating Reason):
    Some disturbing content involving viiolence and sexuality
    (Retail Price):
    $38.96
    (Disc Type):
    Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
    (Widescreen Edition):
    Yes
    (Full Screen Edition):
    No
    (Running Time In Minutes):
    144
    (Color Type):
    Black & White
    (Chaptered/Scene Access):
    Yes
    (Closed Captioned):
    Yes
    (Regional Coding):
    Not Indicated
    (Theatrical Year):
    2009
    (Theatrical Release):
    Yes
    (Direct-To-Video Release):
    No
    (Disc Release Date):
    06/29/10
    (THX® Digitally Mastered):
    No
    (Director):
    Michael Haneke
    (Screenplay/Written By):
    (Story):
    (Music):
    (Director Of Photography):
    (Production Designer):
    (Visual Effects):
    (Costume Designer):
    (Editor):
    (Supervising Sound Editors):
    (Re-Recording Mixers):
    (Executive Producers):
    (Co-Producers):
    (Producers):
    (Academy Awards):
    (Principal Photography):
    (Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
    (Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
    (Disc Soundtrack):
    DTS HD Lossless 5.1
    (Theatrical Sound):
    (Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
    (DTS Bit Rate):
    (Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
    (Additional Languages):
    (French Language):
    (Spanish Language):
    (Chinese Language):
    (Subtitles):
    (Cantonese Language):
    (Mandarin Language):
    (Japanese Language):
    (Italian Language):
    (German Language):
    (Portuguese Language):

    "The White Ribbon" (Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte) takes place on the eve of World War I when strange accidents in a small Protestant village in Northern Germany involve the children and teenagers of a choir run by the schoolteacher and their families. The abused and suppressed children of the villagers seem to be at the heart of this mystery as these events gradually take on the character of a punishment ritual. Winner of the 2010 Golden Globe® for Best Foreign Language From and an Academy Award® nominee for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Achievement in Cinematography. Winner of the American Society of Cinematography's ASC Award for Outstanding Cinematography in Theatrical Releases and Best Cinematography Awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the National Society of Film Critics and New York Film Critics Circle. (Gary Reber)

    Special features include two featurettes: "Making Of" (HD 38:40) and "My Life" (SD 50:09), the Cannes Film Festival Premiere (HD 18:36), an interview with Writer/Director Michael Haneke (SD 14:08), the theatrical trailer, and up-front previews.

    The 1080p AVC picture is black-and-white and is expressive of a play on light and shadow. The gray scale is superb, with a well-balanced contrast and good depth. Shadow delineation is generally good but some scenes, due to the complete absence or dimness of light, are less defined. Still this is the type of cinematography that the America Society of Cinematographers applaud as an honored art form. And rightfully so, as there are numerous scenes that are fabulously cinematic and captivating. Resolution is good, especially during close-ups of facial features and object textures. The picture conveys a heaviness in visual style in the interior scenes, but the natural light of daylight is well presented. This is excellent in contrast and shades of light and darkness that is sure to please those interested in basic black-and-white gray scale cinematography. Christian Berger was awarded the top honor in cinematography from the American Society of Cinematography (ASC) (Gary Reber)

    The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is conventional, with a monaural focus enhanced with frontal and subtle surround atmospheric sound effects. The narration is perfectly intelligible and nicely balanced against the background sounds. Production dialogue, at times, is well integrated spatially, but at others times dialogue sounds unnaturally far forward. There is no music to create mood. Instead we are left with the stark dialogue and visuals to tell this stern-mannered story. (Gary Reber)

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