10 Great World War 1 Films You've Probably Never Seen
1. The White Ribbon (2009)
Set over the course of the year leading up to the outbreak of World War I, The White Ribbon might not focus on the conflict itself but it remains a relevant and highly recommended companion piece to anyone with an interest in the period.
Set in the fictional Protestant village of Eichwald, Northern Germany, where a local baron, a doctor and a pastor rule over the local inhabitants, things begin to take a strange turn following a spate of unexplained and inexplicable incidents involving the people of the village.
A woman falls to her death through rotted floorboards, a horse is deliberately tripped by a wife and the local baron’s song is strung up in a mill. Things escalate from there; parents attack children, lovers turn on each other and people begin to disappear.
Soon a local teacher, who also narrates the film, begins to investigate the strange goings-on, hoping the find answers to his mounting suspicions. What follows is unique, to say the least. Shot entirely in black and white by Michael Haneke, who rose to prominence with the film Funny Games, The White Ribbion is both strangely beautiful and deeply unsettling.