IMDb RATING
6.9/10
8.4K
YOUR RATING
Amidst turmoil and racial conflict in a Francophone African state, a white French woman fights for her coffee crop, her family and ultimately for her life.Amidst turmoil and racial conflict in a Francophone African state, a white French woman fights for her coffee crop, her family and ultimately for her life.Amidst turmoil and racial conflict in a Francophone African state, a white French woman fights for her coffee crop, her family and ultimately for her life.
- Awards
- 1 win & 10 nominations
Christopher Lambert
- André Vial
- (as Christophe Lambert)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe scene where Maria goes into her son's bedroom to wake him up was written intentionally long, with numerous throwaway lines, so that it could be cut way down during editing. According to director Claire Denis, Isabelle Huppert's line readings were so precise and meaningful that they ended up not cutting a single word.
- GoofsThe position of the goat's head in the coffee beans changes between shots.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.13 (2011)
Featured review
A War-torn Africa populated by Cardboard Cut-outs
Chaos reigns in some nameless, war-torn African nation. A rag-tag guerrilla group searches the jungle wilderness for its charismatic wounded leader The Boxer, while some equally ruthless government soldiers try to hunt him down. As the signs of war multiply, The Boxer hides in some outbuildings at the Vial coffee plantation which has been abandoned by its workers. Fear surrounds the decaying French-owned estate where Maria Vial resides with her ex-husband Andre, their dissolute half-mad son and her hated father-in-law. Maria ignores warnings to leave and obsesses over the unharvested coffee crop, while Andre conspires with the sinister local mayor to hand over the property in exchange for safe passage out of the country.
Director Denis makes no attempt to explore her characters, their relationships or the stories behind their present condition, apparently satisfied with documenting the surface symptoms of communal meltdown. She focuses on Maria, but reveals nothing about her heroine except for the foolish fixation on the neglected coffee beans. All the other characters possess similarly one-dimensional personalities - the Europeans are reduced to stereotypes of colonial decadence, while the Africans are portrayed as bloodthirsty and venal. When the film culminates in capricious madness it's impossible to care about anyone's fate, because it's obvious they are symbols existing in a metaphor. Denis doesn't appear to care either.
Director Denis makes no attempt to explore her characters, their relationships or the stories behind their present condition, apparently satisfied with documenting the surface symptoms of communal meltdown. She focuses on Maria, but reveals nothing about her heroine except for the foolish fixation on the neglected coffee beans. All the other characters possess similarly one-dimensional personalities - the Europeans are reduced to stereotypes of colonial decadence, while the Africans are portrayed as bloodthirsty and venal. When the film culminates in capricious madness it's impossible to care about anyone's fate, because it's obvious they are symbols existing in a metaphor. Denis doesn't appear to care either.
helpful•4323
- tigerfish50
- Mar 6, 2011
- How long is White Material?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $304,020
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $34,613
- Nov 21, 2010
- Gross worldwide
- $1,392,434
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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