The White Ribbon (Das weisse Band)

The small north German hamlet in “The White Ribbon’’ looks like a pristine paradise of rural community. The buildings are handsome structures, photographed in a smoky, nostalgic black-and-white. It’s very much a dollhouse village, where the family lives are intertwined: The farmer, for instance, needs the baron’s land. The baron needs some of what the farmer harvests. There is a doctor, a minister, and a schoolteacher. The women raise the children. But - and here is where things get vague and eerie - there exists the distinct possibility that the children are raising hell.