The White Ribbon, released by Michael Haneke in 2009, takes place in a north-German village where traditional hierarchies are rigidly enforced. The story begins in 1913 and is brought to a halt in 1914 by the start of what later came to be called World War I.
I read that Haneke's casting of the numerous village children took six months and involved 7,000 try-outs. The intensity of acting he generates from within the group of children and teenagers is the engine that drives this ghastly, impressive vehicle.
Below, a sister and her young brother eat soup in their kitchen.
The boy was told that his mother "went on a trip" many months earlier, when in fact she died. In their dialogue below he is beginning to piece together the truth.
Brother: Do we all have to die?
Sister: Yes.
Brother: Everyone, really?
Sister: Yes, everyone has to die.
Brother: But not you, Anni?
Sister: Me too. Everyone.
Brother: But not Dad?
Sister: Dad too.
Brother: Me too?
Sister: You too. But not for a very long time.
Brother: And there's nothing to be done about it? It has to happen?
Sister: Yes, but not for a long time.