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The narrator of the story, a rural teacher, recalls a series of bizarre incidents that occurred in a village in northern Germany on the eve of World War I. A doctor was injured when his horse was tripped by a rope while returning home, and an investigation was launched immediately. Meanwhile, the pastor punished two late-arriving children and tied white ribbons, symbols of purity, around their necks. The next day, the wife of a tenant farmer died in an accident, and the teacher discovered a boy named Martin walking at a great height by the river. Martin claimed he wanted to know if God was going to punish him. The teacher met Eva, the nanny of the baron's family, and they left a good impression on each other. Soon, the baron held a harvest ceremony, and the son of the deceased farmer, believing the baron was responsible for his mother's death, destroyed the baron's vegetable garden as revenge. The possible instigators of all these malicious incidents were never investigated, and arson and child abuse continued to occur. The following year, after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the teacher seemed to have discovered some clues, but was strongly stopped by the pastor. This film won the Palme d'Or and the FIPRESCI Award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.