Le silence mutilant du Ruban blanc Le mutisme comme écran noir de la parole (Das weisse Band, Michaël Haneke, 2008)

The Ruban blanc is striking for its dominant motif of muteness, at once a sign of society’s violence and its principal referent. It is the motor for self-destruction, and the catalyst for the degradation of a society about to engulf itself in what will become the First World War. A tragic experience and an artistic mode, it equates with the black screen of speech.