@CameoCinema 12:30 11 Feb

Michael Haneke’s Palme d’Or winning film is a beautifully shot meditation on hypocrisy, repression and powerlessness set in a world about to change forever.

On the eve of WWI in a German village where everyone knows their place and authority lies in social, family or professional position a series of violent, vicious incidents begin to chip away at the fragile myths of their existence. At the bottom of this enforced caste system are the children. Impotent and voiceless they are either burdens or figures to be moulded into replica adults. Haneke puts the audience ahead of the villagers in hinting that the crimes are the work of their kind and as the incidents escalate the blinkered actions of the adults only increase the likelihood of more tragedy.

How often do you question authority?

More than a mere allegory for Nazism, this film deals with the more universal results of confinement, control and twisted self justifying morality. The acts of the children aren’t inevitable, but tragically predictable in such a hide-bound environment. That despite the cruelties they perform it’s still possible to feel sympathy for them is tribute to Haneke’s direction, their performances and the believability of the setting.

At 2hrs 24mins this is a long, slow film: it’s strong, thought provoking filmmaking with no easy answers and no glib conclusions. Haneke likes to pose thought experiments for his audience and it’s easy in our – relatively – free thinking times to think of this film as purely historical drama. However when the lights come up and you leave the cinema you are left asking how often do you question authority.