It’s Back to School for Haneke

Following the critical and commercial shortfall of his
self-remake Funny Games, famed Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke will return to
Europe for his next film Das Weisse Band (The White Tape). Shooting is set to begin in June and throughout the summer,
with additional shooting in the winter. Set in a countryside school in pre-Nazi Germany 1913, the film will examine
the educational system that paved the way for Hitler’s fascist machinations and
its subsequent indoctrination of a generation. This marks Haneke’s first German
production since the original Funny Games in 1997. 

Obvious subject matter for the minimalist-auteur, Band continues his fascination with
human cruelty and society, here in the form of ritual punishment and
subjugation. One has to wonder how Haneke’s predilection for long, bordering on
pretentious, static shots and aversion to a musical score will translate to a
project of this scope. The film will most likely have a larger cast than is
normal for a Haneke project, which requires – you know – moving the camera and
cutting. Interestingly, fellow less-is-more director Hou Hsiao-Hsien is also
taking on a more expansive project in the form of a wushu martial arts film –
can we be witnessing a collective evolution?

The cast was set to be headed by the great Ulrich Mühe
(Haneke wrote the role specifically for him) alongside his wife Susanne Lothar
before his passing to stomach cancer last year. Searching for his replacement
is underway and should be announced soon. Lothar is a frequent collaborator of
Haneke’s, most notably as the embattled wife in the original Funny Games. Also
joining the cast are Josef Bierbichler (Winter Journey), Ulrich Tukur (Amen.)
and Burkhart Klaussner (Good Bye, Lenin!).

Das Weisse Band is aiming for a tentative release in April 2009 through X-Filme and
Filmladen. International distribution is yet to be determined.