Rent White Material (2009)

Coffee, Chaos and Colonial Collapse - White Material review by griggs

Hanging onto land has rarely looked so hopeless. Claire Denis’s White Material follows Maria, a French coffee farmer in an unnamed African country, clinging to her plantation while civil war creeps ever closer. The story moves slowly, but there’s menace everywhere — checkpoints, rebels, the farm itself — and you can feel that holding on might be the most dangerous choice of all.

Isabelle Huppert is brilliant as Maria, fierce but completely deluded. She marches through danger with brittle confidence, convinced her farm will survive when everything around her is falling apart. The family’s a mess, the country’s imploding, but she keeps digging in her heels.

Denis makes it beautiful and terrifying at the same time. The scorched yellows of the savannah, the bleached whites of the interiors, the blood-red coffee cherries — it’s all vivid, all alive, and always in contrast with the collapse surrounding it. The film doesn’t lecture, but the point is clear: privilege and stubbornness don’t save you when history comes calling.

Do you like your coffee dark and bitter? - White Material review by CP Customer

Set 'somewhere in Africa' this frustrating film was apparently shot in Cameron. Critical reviews contain too many spoilers, so be warned. The story as such unfolds slowly. No-one hurries in Africa. It is a depressing view of life, torn apart by civil war and the rule of the gun. Having travelled across Africa in the 70's I like to catch films set there. But this brutal portrayal is devoid of any love, humanity or tenderness, let alone humour for light relief. Not a 'feel good' movie you would recommend to a friend. It never rains. No insects. No impressive views of the terrain. I can't remember anyone smiling.

If this is life in modern Africa, I am glad to have travelled there in happier times. It was a wonderful experience I will always cherish.