Film Plot and Characters Flashcards
Simple plot summary
The orderly everyday life in a Protestant village is disrupted when a series of mysterious accidents and crimes occur. The perpetrators remain unknown.
— a wire brings down the doctor from a horse + he is hospitalised for weeks
— a worker in the sawmill has an accident
— a shed burns down and a baron’s cabbage field is ruined
— midwife’s disabled son becomes a victim of a cruel crime
Only the village teacher seems to be questioning the role of the children in these crimes. But when he pursues his suspicions, the pastor urgently advises him to stay out of the matter.
The only other person who might know the real perpetrators, the midwife, disappears without a trace on the way to the city.
Teacher
> narrates the story
> is the only one who investigates the fatal events and has suspicions about them
> has a blossoming love affair with Eva which offers a counterpoint to the atmosphere in the village
Pastor and his kids
Pastor
> ties the white ribbon around his children as a sign of their transgressions
**Klara **
> eldest daughter of the Pastor
> leader of the children
> outwardly well-behaved daughter, but secretly shows gestures of rebellion against her father
Martin
> eldest son of the Pastor
> tied to the bed at night
Gustl
> Klara and Martin’s little brother who is very attached to their strict father
Doctor and his kids
Doctor
> outwardly friendly doctor has a second side to him
> sexually assaults his daughter
> the midwife is his mistress
Anna
> Doctor’s daughter
> acts like a surrogate mother to Rudi
> abused by her father; substitute partner to her father
Rudi
> Doctor’s youngest son
Midwife and her son
Midwife
> takes care of her disabled son, Karli
> widowed, and is the Doctor’s mistress
> she tolerates his cruelty against her better knowledge
Karli
> Midwife’s disabled son who is tolerated by the other kids
> found severely abused and tied to a tree
> rumour is that the Doctor is his father and that the disability is the result of a botched abortion
Baron, Baroness and their child
Baron
> exploits his position of power ruthlessly, both towards the farmers and his wife
Baroness
> travels to Italy to escape from this world of brutality/oppression but returns out of a sense of duty, adapting to the structures and ways of the village
Sigi
> Baron’s son with his own tutor but plays with the village kids
> Thanksgiving Day, he disappears and is fond abused
Erna and Max [not related]
Erna
> child who tells the teacher about a dream in which Karli is injured
Max
> Farmer’s eldest son blames the Baron for his mother’s accident
> In revenge, he ruins the cabbage field
Detailed Plot
— narrator talks about the doctor’s riding accident
— when the midwife picks up her disabled son from school, Klara asks about the doctor
— the group of children move around Klara
— Klara and Martin are late for dinner, the pastor sends the entire family to bed without eating and announces that K&M will each be given ten whipping strokes in front of their siblings the next morning
— he says the thought of it hurts him and their mother more than the children’s physical pain
— they will have the white ribbon tied around them until the parents’ trust is restored
— wire can no longer be found at the scene
— second accident occurs - worker dies in the sawmill
— max, the eldest son of the dead worker, investigates the death of his mother
— Rudi asks Anna about the worker’s death and she explains as best as she can
— Pastor’s punishment: we hear the children’s cries of pain through the closed door
— Max believes the baron and administrator are responsible; ruins Baron’s cabbage field
— Gustl asks his father for permission to take care of an injured bird
— the farmer reprimands his son, Max, for jeopardising the entire family with the cabbage field
— Sigi can’t be found; after a major search, he’s found tied up and abused
— Baron throws out people from the estate
— the Baroness and her children leave for Italy
— Doctor returns from the hospital, paying his daughter dubious compliments
— the Pastor accuses Max of masturbating at night, he is tied down at night
— the Doctor has loveless sex with the midwife and humiliates her in the following dialogue
— Martin wakes up in fear, a shed is on fire in the farm but the siblings don’t want to untie him
— Max finds his father in the shed, the farmer has hanged himself
— after sex, the Doctor tells the Midwife how repulsive he finds her
— Rudi finds Anna crying in their father’s treatment room
> Anna explains that her father pierced her ears but many things point to something incestuous
— Klara kills her father’s bird - the priest finds the stabbed bird on a cross
— Erna tells the teacher about a dream in which Karli is harmed
— at confirmation, there’s a long exchange of glances between Klara and her father, who then hands her the cup of wine
— Karli is found abused in the forest
— the children overhear the Teacher talking about Erna’s dream, who is then interrogated
— the Doctor treats Karli’s wounds almost lovingly
— Theo, the manager’s son, throws Sigi into the lake whilst trying to steal his flute
— despite his father’s abuse, Theo claims he knows nothing about the flute only to later provoke him by playing it
— Gustl gives his father his now healthy (once wounded) bird as a replacement
— Baroness tells her husband she wants to move to Italy for good but the Baron forbids this
— impending war is on the minds of everyone
— the Midwife urgently asks the Teacher for the bike; Karli told her who the perpetrators were and now she wants to report them to the police
— Teacher finds the children around Karli, in his house
— His doubts, sown by Erna’s dream, increase and when the Doctor and his children disappear, he questions Karla and Martin
— the Pastor is appalled by the teacher’s assumptions and threatens him if he goes public with his assumptions
— the Teacher finds the Midwife’s home empty
— it’s rumoured that the Doctor is Karli’s father and that he and the Midwife killed his wife; on the run for past
