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Black and White in Color/The Sky Above, The Mud BelowRating:
Release Date: 24 June, 2003 Retail Price: $29.95 OUR Price: $26.99 You SAVE: $2.96! Cast: |
Black and White in Color/The Sky Above, The Mud Below Reviews
"The conviction we hold of our own superiority."
At a remote outpost in Africa, a handful of French expatriates receive the news that WWI has begun. By the time the news arrives, the war is already well underway. News of the war affects the French citizens in a peculiar way--amid rabid, patriotic cries of "Vive La France", they decide that it is their duty to attack the German compound a few miles away. Up to this point, the two groups have enjoyed a profitable relationship--with the Germans buying all their supplies from the French. During business transactions, the French merchants and their plump, semi-dressed wives shake their heads at the Germans and their serious approach to life. The French don't understand the Germans, but they are content to do business together. But news of a distant war alters friendships ...
The French number 9 people--various merchants, a studious young man, Socialist Hubert Fresnoy (Jacques Spiesser), and two grasping, self-serving priests. Meanwhile there are only three Germans--and most of their days are spent marching around and disciplining the natives. The French have a different approach to the natives--this varies from lackadaisical to exploitive--they evidently don't approve of the manner in which the Germans act. But when the stakes change, and the French expatriates declare war on the German compound, then the French suddenly have no compunctions whatsoever in exploiting the natives as "recruits" in the most brutal ways.
"Black and White in Colour" is a fierce anti-war film wrapped up in a critique of Western colonialism (note the words of the songs the natives sing). From director Jean Annaud, the film's dark humour and nihilistic approach make for great entertainment. The story shifts from foreigners sharing space on a distant continent, through the insanity of plunging into war, and then even covers the beginnings of a petty despot. This is a blistering examination of the madness, destruction and utter waste of war, and it's delivered deftly enough to make this one of the most enjoyable anti-war films you'll probably ever see. The parallels to the insanity of WWI are inescapable--complete with the misery of rain-drenched trenches. This is war and human nature in a nutshell. This sharply insightful film deservedly won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1977. If you like foreign film or if you enjoy films with a strong political message, then I recommend "Black and White in Colour" wholeheartedly--in French with English subtitles--displacedhuman
Noteworthy
When "Black and White in Color" won the 1976 Best Foreign Language Movie Oscar, I made a mental note to see it some day. I eventually bought the DVD in order to do so. What captured my attention was that it was a film from the Ivory Coast. I don't know if they ever hit the charts again. Indeed, this comes across as a European product but I will leave the credit to some Ivory Coaster with a French name.
It is a satire on colonialism and, generally does well in that arena. The synopsis is that WWI breaks out in Europe and the word reaches the small enclaves of French and German neighboring territories in equatorial Africa. Each of the two colonies involved seems to have less than 10 actual French of Germans in their midst. It would have been easy enough to say "To heck with the war, we'll sit this one out". But no, someone gets the idea to act quickly and take over the other. What to use for troops? Well, that's where the native Africans come in. By playing out this story with such small numbers, the director/writer Jean J. Annaud is able to demonstrate the obvious; the victimization of the aboriginals in an event they have no stake in. This is well-coupled with the apparent oblivious attitude of the Europeans who give themselves all credit for success, when it occurs.
I admit that I was hoping for a bit more than I got but I am glad, after all the years, that I was finally able to see "Black and White in Color". There are a lot of great foreign language movies out there and this is certainly one that's worth the price of admission.
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