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White Material review
:. Director: Claire Denis
:. Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Christopher Lambert
:. Running Time: 1:46
:. Year: 2010
:. Country: France
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While France is one of the few countries which was able to extend its reach and influence around the world, thanks to its colonies, colonialism is a part of French history that makes the French uncomfortable and that they would rather forget — the French colonialist era just ended just 50 years during the particularly traumatic Algerian war (watch The Battle of Algiers to get an idea) and the psychological scars are still vivid.
White Material isn't the first time French director Claire Denis (Nénette & Boni, Trouble very Day, Friday Night) tackles the controversial subject; Her 1988 film Chocolate was also taking place in Africa exploring the effects of colonialism and the subtle treatment of racism and social commentary she exhibited throughout her strong filmography certainly makes her a prime contender to revisit that era.
Shot with a languid pace reflecting the African heat and the slow death of colonialism, White Material takes on colonialism with a different angle, portraying it as broken dream that shouldn't have happened in the first pace. Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher, Time of the Wolf) plays Maria, a stubborn woman managing the coffee plantation owned by her husband André (Christopher Lambert) and his dad. As the civil war is quickly spreading throughout the country, the French military and expatriates are forced to leave, but ignoring those warnings, Maria decides to stay for an ultimate harvest.
What makes White Material so interesting is the fact that Denis portrays Maria and André as somewhat decent people; they are neither cruel nor racist but they live out of dream that is against nature, which is why their son has turned into a monster. What sets them apart is that she — stubbornly — can't let it go while he has lost all hopes.
White Material aims at condemning the concept of colonialism rather than its protagonists. They are taking advantage of a country exploiting its natural and human resources, without realizing that it is wrong, hundreds years of colonialism having normalize this concept. Denis also shows us a corrupt society where both local officials and expatriates work hands in hands, sharing the wealth while the rest of the country lives in total poverty. She also depicts a cruel world where kids are turned into soldiers and where both insurgents and militaries have no respect for human life. Just like in some of her other works, we are confronted to a microcosm built on social and racial conflict, which when let loose can only result into chaos — and when it comes, it is brutal and merciless.
Pale-looking, skinny and washed-up, Isabelle Huppert has stripped of her inherent female sensuality here to play a strong but flawed character. Next to her, a disillusioned Christopher Lambert (Greystoke, Highlander) is a revelation, being somewhat reborn as an actor, following two decades of bad action films. The solid supporting cast also includes Isaach de Bankole — last seen in Jim Jarmush's Limits of Control — as a somewhat mythic figure and the volatile Nicolas Duchauvelle (Braquo, Secret Defense).
Confronting the French audience about its past was pretty risky, due to the moral and historic implications, but Denis' rough and metaphorical approach, supported by a strong cast, turned White Material into a haunting piece of filmmaking and her most ambitious work to date.
Fred Thom
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