The White Ribbon

[elski]

Hi ciro22, if you're posting spoilers can you please use the spoilers button?

go into the main posting box by clicking on 'post reply' button before typing so that you get all the functions then highlight the text you want to cover and click on the 'spoiler' button or alternatively type the code as below (without the *)

[*spoiler]type spoiler here [*/spoiler]

some of us don't want to know these things about films we haven't seen yet.

[ciro22]

To be fair, anybody who has difficulty identifying the words "SPOILER ALERT" written in capitals at the start of my post and then still carries on reading regardless is probably not going to be the kind of person who would be thinking about watching a Michael Haneke film in the first place, let alone even understand the ending...

[elski]

To be fair, anybody who has difficulty identifying the words "SPOILER ALERT" written in capitals at the start of my post and then still carries on reading regardless is probably not going to be the kind of person who would be thinking about watching a Michael Haneke film in the first place, let alone even understand the ending...

Well I was trying to read a thread about a film I'd seen. If someone starts talking about other films then I'd prefer either a spoilers button be used (that's what it's there for) or a new thread started for that discussion. I did try to glance away but when there are posts on this thread I did want to read it makes it difficult to avoid.

[The Sparrow]

Okay, here's a SPOILER ALERT just for you then!

In the credits sequence, you're supposed to see .

As a matter of interest and without giving any more information about a film without using the actual spoiler button, which film are you referring to please? Is it Citizen Kane? Or one of the others mentioned or even the film that this thread is about?

[ciro22]

[spoiler]I was explaining the ending of the 2005 film "Hidden" ("Cache") for another poster who said that they couldn't get it at all and that this actually ruined the film for them. The film is from the same writer/director of "The White Ribbon" and ironically the actual point of the whole discussion was that (in my opinion) his films are mostly about how both the audience and the characters get to the ending rather than the ending themselves, and so the endings themselves are really not that significant to begin with - but try telling that to some people...[/spoiler]

[The Sparrow]

ciro22,. As I haven't seen that film either, it hasn't spoilt it. I will have forgotten what you posted when I see it probably. But thank you for the explanation as I had gotten all mixed up.

[Sydney_Bristow]

This is definitely not a spoiler:

Hidden (Cache) is a rubbish, pointless, waste of a couple of hours. Do yourself a favour and don't bother watching it.
I am a fan of both binoche and auteuil but I have to say that I was thoroughly and completely disappointed after watching that movie. Sure, Haneke fans will probably disagree with me, adding derogatory adjectives - ok sure, I'm too stoopid to 'get it'. But frankly, watching that movie was like really bad sex with a really hot guy - you expect so much and you're left feeling truly disappointed and dissatisfied.

My two cents: watch another french/foreign language film like Jean de Florette, Manon de sources, Angel-A, Melena, L'appartemente, Amelie, Un Coeur en hiver, La femme nikita, etc, etc, etc.


Ok, back to the White Ribbon....

[RioBravo]

Well, I don't get him and am certainly not going to see his latest, which sounds too nasty for me. I don't mind a demanding film which requires concentration, but Hidden left me really frustrated as I just didn't understand what was meant to have happened (even though friends had told me to look out for some clue in the final scene), and I don't want a film to make me feel stupid or tricked. As for watching a film more than once, not for me - not even an enjoyable film, because there are too many others to see. And there'd be no guarantee that I'd get it the next time, either! Whilst I don't mind films not having a neat ending - in fact, it's more credible if they don't - I don't like to be left completely clueless, either - I think that's taking your money on false pretences.

I wouldn't say you'd feel tricked by the kind of who dunnit aspect of The White Ribbon. Its about more than that in my view. An excellent piece of work and if you like Ingmar Bergman then that's the sort of thing you'll find here.

Great film.

[RioBravo]

70 YEAR OLD SPOILER ALERT! ha )

Bizarrely, not everyone using this forum was of cinema-going age in 1941. The age of the film is irrelevant. I don't think that knowing the ending alters the endless rewatch value of Citizen Kane, but you only get one chance to see it without knowing the ending and its not for us to decide how others experience it first. I suggest that you should edit out that spoiler.

[ciro22]

You're right... the fact that a film has been widely available and discussed for 70 odd years and has had its ending 'spoiled' by numerous films and TV show references (including a whole episode of the Simpsons) clearly counts for nought and we should all be super-cautious - although not quite so super-cautious enough to be able to spot the clear warning "70 YEAR OLD SPOILER ALERT!" screaming out from the post and yet still carrying on reading regardless...