Do you want to see ‘White Material’?

White Material (2009)

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Top Critics

Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 81
Fresh: 71 | Rotten: 10

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 7.6/10
Critic Reviews: 17
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 10,336

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Movie Info

From Claire Denis, the incomparable director of BEAU TRAVAIL, L'INTRUS and 35 SHOTS OF RHUM, comes WHITE MATERIAL: a rich and thrilling account of a woman driven to the edge. An official selection of the Venice, Toronto and New York Film Festivals, the film is a riveting exploration of the complexities of racial conflict and the limits of human will. The legendary Isabelle Huppert (LA CEREMONIE, THE PIANO TEACHER, 8 WOMEN), is Maria Vial, a fearless French woman attempting to run her family's

Unrated, 1 hr. 42 min.

Art House & International, Drama

Directed By: Claire Denis

In Theaters: Nov 19, 2010 Limited

On DVD: Apr 12, 2011

Box Office:$0.3M

IFC Films

White Material Trailer & Photos

More Photos (5)

Cast

Isabelle Huppert
Maria, Maria Vial
Isaach De Bankol�
The Boxer
Daniel Tchangang
José, Jos�, Jos?
Christopher Lambert
André, André Vial, An...
Nicolas Duvauchelle
Manuel, Manuel Vial
William Nadylam
The Mayor
Ad�le Ado
Lucie Vial
Ali Bacha Barkai
Jeep
Michel Subor
Henri Vial

Critic Reviews for White Material

All Critics (82) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (72) | Rotten (10) | DVD (3)

A maddening movie that gives the viewer plenty to think about, but little to care about.

April 14, 2011 Full Review Source: Film.com

| Comment

William Goss

Film.com

Top Critic

A thoughtful, if sometimes frustrating, tale of a Frenchwoman caught in the middle of a civil war in an unidentified African country.

January 14, 2011 Comment

Cary Darling

Dallas Morning News

Top Critic

It's one of those movies where questions like "Why didn't they do that?" or "Wait, what's their relationship?" keep popping up. And for the most part, those questions never get answered.

December 17, 2010 Full Review Source: Detroit News

| Comments (2)

Tom Long

Detroit News

Top Critic

This haunting drama by Claire Denis burns with a mute fear and rage at the ongoing atrocities in central Africa.

December 17, 2010 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Enigmatic, elliptical but visually powerful, Claire Denis' film plays chronological hopscotch with events.

December 16, 2010 Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune

| Comment

Colin Covert

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Top Critic

A mournful, frightening, powerful film.

December 9, 2010 Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

| Comment

Steven Rea

Philadelphia Inquirer

Top Critic

Unsentimental, brutal, and beautiful, (the film) is a harrowing experience.

May 16, 2011 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

| Comment

Christopher Long

Movie Metropolis

a difficult film, and one that sticks with you, pestering you with its unresolved tensions

April 30, 2011 Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk

| Comment

James Kendrick

Q Network Film Desk

Director Claire Denis is known for her vivid snapshots of contemporary culture and White Material is shot with an immediacy that's hard to ignore.

April 11, 2011 Full Review Source: Scene-Stealers.com

| Comment

Eric Melin

Scene-Stealers.com

White Material is the suffocating smoke of colonialist ideology billowing up into the air. White Material is the last gasp of Maria Vial. White Material is Claire Denis's striking line in the sand.

April 11, 2011 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Glenn Heath Jr.

Slant Magazine

If you think you're going to get a simple anti-imperialism message from French director Claire Denis, you've got about seven other things coming. Her movies defy expectations all the way down the line.

April 4, 2011 Full Review Source: Movies.com

| Comment

Dave White

Movies.com

Claire Denis' harrowing "White Material" centers on a family that feels inextricably bound to a country that does not want them anymore.

March 25, 2011 Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI)

| Comment

Rob Thomas

Capital Times (Madison, WI)

The ending is a cop-out, and the viewer is left unfulfilled. The main reason to buy a ticket is for Huppert's mesmerizing performance. She is one of France's greatest actresses.

March 11, 2011 Full Review Source: Entertainment Spectrum

| Comment

Keith Cohen

Entertainment Spectrum

Some will find White Material's puzzlements evocative. Others -- including yours truly -- will leave irritated and unfulfilled.

March 11, 2011 Full Review Source: Kansas City Star

| Comment

Robert W. Butler

Kansas City Star

Vial is presented as a complex character who feels she's been backed against a wall, and on the one hand we can see where she's coming from, but on the other hand we might think she's just nuts.

March 4, 2011 Full Review Source: Window to the Movies

| Comment

Jeffrey Chen

Window to the Movies

White Material is unhurried in its storytelling but unshakable in its impact.

January 31, 2011 Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

| Comment

Calvin Wilson

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

While we get the idea Denis knows what she's doing with the metaphor of racial recompense in her movie, whether or not she "gets" the idea of fleshy, full-bodied characters grounded in a sense of viewer compassion is still up in the air.

January 17, 2011 Full Review Source: Frank's Reel Reviews

| Comment

Frank Wilkins

Frank's Reel Reviews

...an unsettling, harrowing look at the self-delusion of a colonialist who's convinced that she has become fully integrated into the country - and the family - she's occupied.

January 16, 2011 Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

| Comment

Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A powerful commentary on the heart of darkness.

January 13, 2011 Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion

| Comment

Frank Swietek

One Guy's Opinion

A poignant, haunting study of well-intentioned but doomed folly, embodied by a heroine whose bravery renders her blind to the world that is crumbling around her.

January 6, 2011 Full Review Source: Miami Herald

| Comment

Rene Rodriguez

Miami Herald

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for White Material

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Another great film put out by IFC films about a French women who will not give up, Isabelle Huppert plays the part of a coffee plantation owner in a African country trying to get the coffee crop in before it ruins. Trouble within the country between the Rebels and the military over running the country is now a prime

January 30, 2012

Bruce Bruce

Super Reviewer

a powerful performance by isabelle huppert and an atmosphere of palpable dread in the dark heart of post colonial africa

April 21, 2011

Stella Dallas

Super Reviewer

White Material Quotes

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1. Maria Vial: I just need one week or the crop will be ruined.
– Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)
1. Maria Vial: It is safe. I have had no trouble.
– Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)

Character	Quote
	Enter quote here...	Delete

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