In a rural German village in 1913, brutal authority is enforced by the baron and the pastor. Malevolent occurrences involving the upper class gradually take on the character of a punishment ritual. A school teacher investigates and slowly discovers the incredible truth.

Tracing the genesis of a fascist ideology as it develops and swiftly proliferates in a small community, Michael Haneke’s riveting Palme d’Or winner is a prescient, perhaps timeless parable. A compelling drama, conveyed in stark black-and-white cinematography, co-written with Jean-Claude Carrière.