Review of White Material (2010) by Ola S — 02 Aug 2010

There's film horror and there's reality horror. This is the later one.

A civil war is going on in an African country, but Isabelle Huppert stays at her coffee plantage. There's a latent threat here from the first second to the climax. But it's not built up in the traditional way. It's the same threat magnitude all around.

But the civil war is just background, because what's important here is the mother rebellion. From Huppert's son, good performance from Nicolas Duvauchelle, but even more so from husband, workers, the African civilisation. It's the White Mother who is on trial here. She's the white material.

Great focus from director Claire Denis. Threat obviously can be a part of life, even in a movie.