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Michael Haneke is anything but a novice when it comes to dealing with violence and oppression. However, in his opinion, the most effective way to execute these ideas onscreen is to allude instead of show. And in his most recent film The White Ribbon, which won The Golden Palm Award at Cannes in May, that is exactly what he did. In Haneke's words, the film is about "the origin of every type of terrorism," highlighted by the actions of German Protestants living in a small, pre-World War I.

In this exclusive Zoom In Online interview, Haneke discusses, with the aide of a translator, his choice to leave many answers open-ended, first creating distrust for the characters and ultimately allowing the audience to come to their own conclusions. This way, the audience is forced to imagine the violence on their own which, according to Haneke, creates a much more powerful result in the end.

Haneke also admits that although a significant amount of effort was put into creating an accurate look and feel for the time period, he hopes the film gains resonance with contemporary audiences for its pertinent references to ideology and religion. Regardless of how you interpret the less-than-sound characters in White Ribbon, one thing is for certain: the film certainly does not pander to its audience, instead giving viewers the rare and somewhat daunting task of filling in the black and white blanks for themselves.