White Ribbon, The

The story of the children and teenagers of a choir run by the village schoolteacher, and their families: the baron, the steward, the pastor, the doctor, the midwife, the tenant farmers. Strange accidents occur and gradually take on the character of a punishment ritual. Who is behind it all? The film's title refers to the loss of innocence. Crisply shot in black and white, the film is set in a rural German village just prior to World War I.

Voiced by an old man (Ernst Jacobi) who used to be the village schoolteacher, the story reveals mysterious goings-on. A doctor falls off his horse, apparently tripped by a rigged wire. The son of the local baron is found beaten. A barn is burned down. So who is to blame? As the war approaches, suspicion begins to escalate, perhaps presaging Germany's next 30 years.