Because of the choice of black and white film, "White Ribbon" has more realism in the image, as if opening an old photo album and listening to the elderly rural teacher telling the stories behind the photos. The use of color in black and white films is mainly manifested in the brightness and level of light. When watching, it is not difficult to notice that all the plots of teachers and Eva will be relatively relaxed. First of all, this is the result of the brightness and softness of the light; secondly, most of the dialogues between the two use normal dialogue shots. , such as: front and back shots, positioning shots, the audience feels comfortable when they look; and in the performance of the actors, it is just a simple admiration of men and women, just like the teacher's narration said "I was once again shy by her shyness. She is deeply attracted by her straightforward personality like a child." Eva is also a foreigner like a teacher, and by describing her personality and family, it is actually a comparison with other characters, and real children are not as shy as children. and straightforward. Through Clana and Annie, especially Clana's calmness and maturity every time she faced police questioning, teacher questioning, and father's questioning. Associating these seemingly polite behaviors, calmly responding to changes and doubts about their behavior makes people fearful later. Maybe as skeptical as a teacher, maybe as disbelieving as a pastor, but more still uncertain.
According to the narration at the beginning and end of the whole film, most of the film still uses the objective lens or the teacher's subjective lens to express the story. This is particularly evident in the footage of children from several families. From the very beginning, in the appearance of several children leaving the school to go to the village entrance after school, they were always seen talking to the midwife and seeing their backs going to the village entrance through the subjective lens of the teacher. The teacher saw Martin on the bridge in the river, the farmer's son destroyed the farmland during the autumn harvest celebration, and the whole village gathered for worship and so on. The composition often borrows a "third-person" perspective, such as the scene where the teacher talks in the pastor's house. The slanted composition and the teacher's posture of sitting almost facing the camera form the perspective of the audience and seem to be sitting in the film. The illusion of listening to their conversation from the corner of the table, the audience becomes the third character of the scene. It's a fixed shot when Clara and Martin come home late for training, and the camera is always on the two of them. This technique was also used when they were punished. The camera was always at the door, aimed at the door, saw Martin come out to take the whip and then went in and heard the screams of being beaten. The camera was always facing the door, which was a bystander's point of view. The audience is given an experience of this character and imagination. In the dialogue between the teacher and the children, the backside of the teacher is more shot, and the camera is aimed at the children - the teacher meets the children outside the window of Xiji's house, the teacher enters through the wooden door, half of the two doors are open and half are open It is closed, and the characters are visible in the open half, half of the teacher's back and half of Klarna and the other children. In Michael Haneke's films, there are always such delicate compositions. Another example is the dark foreground of the farmer's wife's death, the bright window as the background, and only the wife's feet and the farmer's unseen profile in the center. This method is also used after the farmer's death, the son enters the house and closes the door, the background is boundless darkness, the foreground is the daughter cooking, the son is drowned in the boundless darkness, can't see the expression or movement clearly. The audience brought more sorrow and suffering than the actors could perform.
In the use of scenes, "White Ribbon" has many panoramic and close-up views to introduce the relationship between the characters and the surrounding environment. Many dialogue shots use a near-special simple development model. First, the characters, environment, and atmosphere of the dialogue are expressed, and then the characters' emotions expressed in the close-up. The dialogue between Martin and the teacher on the bridge: First, an over-the-shoulder shot shows the teacher's rebuke of Martin's behavior, and then a close-up of the characters shows the teacher's surprise at what Martin said and Martin's reflection on God's punishment. This kind of dialogue between two people is basically in this form, and I always feel that there is a sense of exhaustion. Why not think about what Martin said, why not give Martin a monologue to show what he wants to do and why he wants to do this. do it? In addition, in the setting of the panorama, the children of the village chief and the children of the baron are playing in the pond and grabbing the whistle. When the children pass through the destroyed vegetable field, it is still a panoramic view. The panoramic view brings the overall feeling of the environment. In fact, maybe the audience wants to see the state of the characters at this time, just like the scene of hearing screams outside the door. All we have is conjecture and doubt. In addition, the film uses a lot of empty shots and narration to make the film more calm and profound. A fixed empty shot can be as long as 50 seconds. When the film is nearing the end, it tells about the departure of the doctor and the midwife. The shot changes from close-up to medium-range and then to full-range. It is a return of the story from near to far. People return to In the face of the reality of war, the audience gradually separated from the story and returned to reality. This is undoubtedly a good home for the story.
Like the people on the show, they may have forgotten to understand who actually started these things, or put the blame on the people who left. Audiences may be moved to the battlefield when they see the background of the outbreak of the First World War, or they may also see the end and think that it was really the work of doctors and midwives. "I, your God, your Lord, am the jealous God, and visit for the iniquity of the father of the sons to the next generation." Or it really is God's punishment. As for the director, who seems to have already come to a conclusion, but is reluctant to say it clearly, the narrative of "White Ribbon" is slow and logical, and the sections are related and progressive, and several families and several things are developed along the timeline without any confusion. The camera position is natural, and the black and white aerial footage is impressive. The film does not have a soundtrack, and only a few pieces of music come from the content of the film itself. Such a simple and seemingly unskilled camera style, like this story, brings the audience a surface blandness, but it trembles after deep thought.
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