White Material
Encyclopedia
White Material is a 2009 French film directed by Claire Denis
and co-written with Marie NDiaye
.
The films stars Isabelle Huppert
as Maria Vial, a struggling French coffee producer in an unnamed African country, who decides to stay at her coffee plantation in spite of an erupting civil war. The film was very well received, earning high ratings and appearing in several movie critics' top lists for 2010.
farmer who runs (with her ex-husband, his father, and their son) a failing coffee
plantation
in an unnamed African country in the present day. Civil war has broken out and rebel soldiers, many of them child soldiers, are advancing on the area. Rebels on the radio advocate attacks on emblems of colonialism. Maria's workers leave, but she refuses to abandon the plantation, and searches for men to finish harvesting of the coffee. As she and her family await the inevitable, the tensions in their personal relationships, and in their relations with the African community, become exposed. Maria puts the farm in even more danger when she looks after a wounded rebel officer known as 'The Boxer'.
, with a 93% among the "top critics."
Manohla Dargis
of the New York Times described it as a "...powerful, agonized film." Roger Ebert
was especially impressed with the performance of Isabelle Huppert, "...small and slender, [she] embodies the strength of a fighter. In so many films, she is an indomitable force, yet you can't see how she does it. She rarely acts broadly. The ferocity lives within. Sometimes she is mysteriously impassive; we see what she's determined to do, but she sends no signals with voice or eyes to explain it." Michael Koresky of IndieWire
concurs, and also praises the ensemble cast: "Maria is hardly the film’s only character. Christophe Lambert gives a surprisingly fragile performance as her ex-husband, while Nicolas Duvauchelle is downright frightening as the beautiful, blond, lazy Manuel, who descends to peculiar pathological depths and thrusts himself into unexpected action." Kenneth Turan
of the Los Angeles Times
also praised the film, "Though it deals with serious political themes and confronts deep personal issues, perhaps the most unexpected thing about "White Material" is that it never forgets to add artful beauty to the mix."
Claire Denis
Claire Denis is a French film director and Professor of Film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.-Early life:...
and co-written with Marie NDiaye
Marie NDiaye
Marie NDiaye is a French novelist and playwright. She published her first novel, Quant au riche avenir, when she was only 17 and she won the Prix Femina in 2001 for her novel Rosie Carpe...
.
The films stars Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert is a French actress who has appeared in over 90 film and television productions since 1971. She has had 14 films in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and won the Best Actress Award twice, for Violette Nozière and La pianiste . She is also the most...
as Maria Vial, a struggling French coffee producer in an unnamed African country, who decides to stay at her coffee plantation in spite of an erupting civil war. The film was very well received, earning high ratings and appearing in several movie critics' top lists for 2010.
Plot
Maria is a whiteWhite people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
farmer who runs (with her ex-husband, his father, and their son) a failing coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
in an unnamed African country in the present day. Civil war has broken out and rebel soldiers, many of them child soldiers, are advancing on the area. Rebels on the radio advocate attacks on emblems of colonialism. Maria's workers leave, but she refuses to abandon the plantation, and searches for men to finish harvesting of the coffee. As she and her family await the inevitable, the tensions in their personal relationships, and in their relations with the African community, become exposed. Maria puts the farm in even more danger when she looks after a wounded rebel officer known as 'The Boxer'.
Cast
- Isabelle HuppertIsabelle HuppertIsabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert is a French actress who has appeared in over 90 film and television productions since 1971. She has had 14 films in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and won the Best Actress Award twice, for Violette Nozière and La pianiste . She is also the most...
as Maria - Christopher LambertChristopher LambertChristophe Guy Denis "Christopher" Lambert is an American-born French actor who has appeared in French, European and American productions. He is best known for his role as Connor MacLeod, or simply "The Highlander", from the movie and subsequent movie franchise series of the same name...
as André, her husband - Nicolas DuvauchelleNicolas DuvauchelleNicolas Duvauchelle is a French actor.-Biography:Duvauchelle starred in numerous movies including Lightweight, À tout de suite and Le Grand Meaulnes...
as Manuel, their son - Isaach de BankoléIsaach De BankoléIsaach or Isaac de Bankolé is an Ivorian actor.-Work:He has appeared in over 30 films, including Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and Coffee and Cigarettes...
as "The Boxer" - Adèle Ado as Lucie
- Michel SuborMichel SuborMichel Subor is a French actor who gained fame playing the lover of Brigitte Bardot's character in La Bride sur le Cou .In Hollywood Subor starred in Clive Donner's What's New, Pussycat? and in Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz...
as André's father - William Nadylam as Chérif, the mayor
- David Gozlan as Hamudi
Reception
White Material has an overall approval rating of 88% on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, with a 93% among the "top critics."
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with A.O. Scott. She was formerly a chief film critic for the Los Angeles Times, the film editor at the LA Weekly, and a film critic at The Village Voice. She has written for a variety of publications, including Film Comment and...
of the New York Times described it as a "...powerful, agonized film." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
was especially impressed with the performance of Isabelle Huppert, "...small and slender, [she] embodies the strength of a fighter. In so many films, she is an indomitable force, yet you can't see how she does it. She rarely acts broadly. The ferocity lives within. Sometimes she is mysteriously impassive; we see what she's determined to do, but she sends no signals with voice or eyes to explain it." Michael Koresky of IndieWire
IndieWire
indieWIRE is a daily news site for the independent film community. It covers indie, documentary and foreign language films, as well industry news, film festival reports, filmmaker interviews and movie reviews...
concurs, and also praises the ensemble cast: "Maria is hardly the film’s only character. Christophe Lambert gives a surprisingly fragile performance as her ex-husband, while Nicolas Duvauchelle is downright frightening as the beautiful, blond, lazy Manuel, who descends to peculiar pathological depths and thrusts himself into unexpected action." Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan is an American film critic and Lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California.-Background:...
of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
also praised the film, "Though it deals with serious political themes and confronts deep personal issues, perhaps the most unexpected thing about "White Material" is that it never forgets to add artful beauty to the mix."
Top ten lists
The film has appeared on a number of critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2010.- 1st – Guy Lodge, In Contention
- 2nd – Michael W. Phillips, Goatdog's Movies
- 3rd – Reverse Shot
- 3rd – Amy TaubinAmy TaubinAmy Taubin is an American film critic. She is a contributing editor for two prominent film magazines, the British Sight & Sound and the American Film Comment...
, Film CommentFilm CommentFilm Comment is an arts and culture magazine published by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, of which it is the official publication. Film Comment features critical reviews and in-depth analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world... - 3rd – Mike Wilmington, Movie City News
- 4th – Sean Axmaker, MSN Movies
- 5th – Mark Asch, L MagazineL MagazineThe L Magazine is a free bi-weekly magazine in New York City featuring investigative articles, arts and culture commentary, and event listings...
- 5th – J. HobermanJ. HobermanJames Lewis Hoberman , also known as J. Hoberman, is an American film critic. He is currently the senior film critic for The Village Voice, a post he has held since 1988.-Education:...
, San Francisco Weekly - 6th – Melissa AndersonMelissa AndersonMelissa Marie Anderson is an American professional wrestler, better known by her ring name Cheerleader Melissa. She is best known for her work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where she worked as Alissa Flash and Raisha Saeed...
, Village Voice - 10th – Caryn James, indieWIREIndieWireindieWIRE is a daily news site for the independent film community. It covers indie, documentary and foreign language films, as well industry news, film festival reports, filmmaker interviews and movie reviews...
- 10th – James RocchiJames RocchiJames Rocchi is a freelance film critic living and working in Los Angeles. He currently writes reviews for MSN.com, amctv.com, Redbox, Mother Jones Magazine and other outlets. He is a current member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Society, the Online Film Critics Society and the Broadcast Film...
, MSN Movies
Awards and nominations
- Nomination – Denver Film Critics SocietyDenver Film Critics SocietyThe Denver Film Critics Society is an organization of film critics based in Denver, Colorado. -2009 Winners and Nominees:Best Film*The Hurt Locker**A Serious Man**Star Trek**Up in the AirBest Director...
Award for Best Foreign Language Film (pending) - Nomination – Golden LionGolden LionIl Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
– Claire Denis - Nomination – Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language FilmSatellite Award for Best Foreign Language FilmThe Satellite Award for Best Foreign Film is one of the annual Satellite Awards given by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :- 2000s :- 2010s :...
- Nomination – Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film