‘The White Ribbon’ won its share of awards, and I suppose, as a film, it was interesting enough. Like many European films I have seen, however, I got to the end and still was puzzled - what was it all about?
There's a reason the ‘Hollywood Ending’ is called a Hollywood ending. It seems American audiences demand that their movies have an end - preferably a happy end. I have read that studios will sometimes assemble focus groups and show them their films with different endings, to test out which one will be the most successful – pointing, of course, towards commercial success. I don't think Europeans do that. Often the film ends and the audience is left to puzzle - okay what was that all about? ‘The White Ribbon’ fits comfortably into this model.
It is set in a German village on the eve of World War I. I was looking forward to seeing what today's Germans make of that era. From what I have read about prewar Germany, in history and fiction, I get the sense that today's Germans may as well be from a different planet. That part did come through. The old Germany was portrayed as cold, cruel and repressive - quite distant from today's ambience. Consistent with what you might expect from people who hate their past.
‘(T)raumshiff Surprise’ was something completely different. Yes, about as wacky as what you might expect from Monty Python. It was a spoof of Star Trek, born on television and expanded for the big screen. If you can imagine a German ‘Spaceballs’, you pretty much have this film. What was interesting was the choices of what to spoof. The lead characters are gay and for some reason they end up in the Wild West. Germans have a fascination with that time and place. I guess it all makes sense…
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