White Material (2009)
Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 81
Fresh: 71 | Rotten: 10
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Critic Reviews: 21
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 2
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 10,638
My Rating
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
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Cast
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Isabelle Huppert
Maria, Maria Vial -
Isaach De Bankolé
The Boxer -
Christopher Lambert
André, André Vial, An... -
Nicolas Duvauchelle
Manuel, Manuel Vial -
William Nadylam
The Mayor -
Adèle Ado
Lucie Vial -
Ali Bacha Barkai
Jeep -
Daniel Tchangang
José, José, Jos? -
Michel Subor
Henri Vial
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White Material Trailer & Photos
All Critics (83) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (72) | Rotten (10) | DVD (3)
A maddening movie that gives the viewer plenty to think about, but little to care about.
Top CriticA thoughtful, if sometimes frustrating, tale of a Frenchwoman caught in the middle of a civil war in an unidentified African country.
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.
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.
This haunting drama by Claire Denis burns with a mute fear and rage at the ongoing atrocities in central Africa.
Enigmatic, elliptical but visually powerful, Claire Denis' film plays chronological hopscotch with events.
Unsentimental, brutal, and beautiful, (the film) is a harrowing experience.
a difficult film, and one that sticks with you, pestering you with its unresolved tensions
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.
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.
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.
Claire Denis' harrowing "White Material" centers on a family that feels inextricably bound to a country that does not want them anymore.
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.
Some will find White Material's puzzlements evocative. Others -- including yours truly -- will leave irritated and unfulfilled.
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.
White Material is unhurried in its storytelling but unshakable in its impact.
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.
...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.
A powerful commentary on the heart of darkness.
Audience Reviews for White Material
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Maria Vial: I just need one week or the crop will be ruined.
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- Maria Vial: It is safe. I have had no trouble.
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November 19, 2010:
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Foreign Titles
- Una mujer en África (ES)
