Film Notes: White Material

This film, although beautifully made, is rather disturbing. Isabelle Huppert plays a coffee planter in an anonymous African Republic, which had been a French Colony; and then a protectorate of some kind. Early in the film we learn that the French military are withdrawing, and urging all remaining white people to withdraw, as the country disintegrates into a bloody civil war. Huppert's character, remains defiant in the face of danger however, and persists with her determination to bring in the harvest, even as her workers leave and her family disintegrates.

Huppert is brilliant as Mm Vial, the feisty-yet-fragile planter, who never seems to surrender - always seeking to fight back against the ever overwhelming odds surrounding her. Her acting, accompanied by a hauntingly beautiful, lamenting soundtrack, and plenty of character's-eye-view filming, make the film arresting to the senses.

Without including plot-spoilers, what makes this film at times unbearable to watch is the cruelty and suffering which accompanies civil war. Child soldiers feature heavily in the plot; and it is gut-wrenching to see the reality of children (some the age of my own kids), heavily armed, roaming the countryside, with no hand to restrain their 'Lord of the Flies' like descent into barbarism. That evil men commit evil acts is of little shock value, I suppose, compared to such horror being unleashed from those we would normally see portrayed as innocents, is actually chilling.

The family plantation becomes the centre of the action, as it becomes known that a rebel fighter known as 'the Boxer' is hiding out there; and the war between government and rebels grows more fierce. The already divided family, divide further over whether to stay and fight, or cut and run, with the adult son, descending into mental illness after a brutal (probably sexual) assault by teenage soldiers. The film ends on a grim note of betrayal and revenge, even as the war itself seems to be running its course.

There are a few moments when the plot is not easy to follow, although these do become clearer as the memory-sequences are made more obvious. Part of this is quite deliberate, in that the confusion of a nation in civil war, with panic, information and miss-information, abounding being conveyed to the viewer. Characters are often in fact, seem listening to the demagogic rebel radio broadcaster, urging his troops on to trash the remaining vestiges of colonialism. But, what will remain with me far longer than the plot, are the incredibly vivid scenes, the sense of foreboding, and the fear and confusion of a country amidst violent revolt. This was very, very disturbing indeed.