Black and White in Color

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Audience Member "Colonies are the outhouses of the European soul, where a fellow can let his pants down and relax, enjoy the smell of his own [poop emoji]." — Pynchon Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a movie extremely rich and ambitious in content; it thematically bursts at the seams. In his directorial debut, Annaud attempts to cover off major categories - war, race relations and religion. I'm not convinced he's been able to adequately hit the mark on all categories, but his use of satire as a device is well done. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Before Jean-Jacques Annaud made such international large Hollywood epics as "Enemy at the Gates" and "Seven Years in Tibet" he made his debut in the Ivory Coast where he directed the colonial war comedy "Black and White in Color". The film is set during World War I in a french colony in Africa (which one is never mentioned) in the year of 1915, where the colonist have just received the news about a war between France and Germany, which means that the colonies are also in war with each other. So the french colonists has a real problem when their enemies are not far away, with a more experienced black army. And the French also have a hard time convincing the natives to join the fight against the Germans. Black and White in Color is a great black comedy, because it makes fun of the French patriotism and the early views on war as something great. But on the other hand, the colonist was not so much aware of all the horrors in Europe, and also their soldiers were all Africans. While the Africans were fighting and dying, the colonist was having a picnic in the sun. And in the end it's all just a cricket match between French and Germany, who after the war rejoice that the whole conflict is finally over. It has that same bourgeoisie feeling as a Luis Buñuel film. The same discreet charm, the french arrogance and the white superiority. But one of the colonist named Hubert Frensnoy, a young and promising student takes charges and starts to organize an army that can compete with the German troops. He's also a socialist, a small hint of a world in change. A great black comedy that shows us the completely different world view of that time, in such a funny way. Thumbs up. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member The premise of the film is very interesting and at some point Jean-Jacques successfully depicts the ridiculousness of war, but there are many things in the movie that are not necessary. The screenplay is very loose. In spite of this, there are many funny scenes, for instance, the Rhine analogy of the small stream dividing the colonies. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member Having been previously impressed with any Annaud film I've seen this one was very disappointing. I felt it to be tedious and empty. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member It's amusing throughout, even if the whole thing seems a trifle along the lines of "look at those silly white people." Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Black and White in Color

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