Black and White in Color
Black and White in Color

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- 68/100 based on 1,704 votes

French colonists in Africa, several months behind in the news, find themselves at war with their German neighbors. Deciding that they must do their proper duty and fight the Germans, they promptly conscript the local native population. Issuing them boots and rifles, the French attempt to make "proper" soldiers out of the Africans. A young, idealistic French geographer seems to be the only rational person in the town, and he takes over control of the "war" after several bungle... (Full plot summary below)

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Actors in Black and White in Color:

Jean Carmet
Jacques Dufilho
Catherine Rouvel
Jacques Spiesser
Dora Doll
Maurice Barrier

Full Plot Details

French colonists in Africa, several months behind in the news, find themselves at war with their German neighbors. Deciding that they must do their proper duty and fight the Germans, they promptly conscript the local native population. Issuing them boots and rifles, the French attempt to make "proper" soldiers out of the Africans. A young, idealistic French geographer seems to be the only rational person in the town, and he takes over control of the "war" after several bungles on the part of the others.

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Movie Reviews

Chicago Sun-Times - 8/10 by Roger EbertA charming and often sunnily satirical movie.
Old School Reviews - 7/10 by John A. Nesbitbiggest chuckles are often reserved for the blundering priests and merchants, as seen by the Ivory Coast natives
EmanuelLevy.Com - 7/10 by Emanuel LevyJean-Jacques Annaud made an impressive directing debut with his WWI-set political tale, which won the 1976 Best Foreign Language Oscar.
User Review - 8/10 by Sean MA light and humorous take on a very serious subject, it's the sort of movie Chaplin might have made about war. Had Chaplin been, you know, understated in that continental French sort of way.
User Review - 8/10 by Saad NComical movie about war and race, great ending.
User Review - 8/10 by David LThe recently release DVD of this film comes with the documentary The Sky Above, The Mud Below. Both were produced by well-respected Swiss producer Arthur Cohn. This was Jean-Jacques Annaud debut feature film. The soundtrack and camera work are well done. But the main attraction is the absurdly comic actions of the French colonists in Africa during the final years of WWI. The French colonists from one village have been friends with German colonists in a neighboring village. Yet, when they see an old newspaper from their homeland announcing the start of WWI, the always drunk sergeant of the colony, the two missionaries, the two brothers who run the general store with their wives, and a couple other colonists, decide to declare war on their German neighbors. The white colonists treat war like a picnic, though, as they expect the African natives to do the fighting and dying for them. A few of the African servants of the colonists make wisecracks about the absurdity of their white "masters," so the movie is not entirely in the voice of the colonists. After several botched attempts at playing war, Hubert Fresnoy (Spiesser), a young scholar, who is against the fighting at the beginning, takes command of the colony and even marries a native woman. He scandalizes the rest of the colonists, but is much more successful at leading the war efforts until a troop of British colonized Indian soldiers arrive to announce the end of the war. It turns out that Hubert and the leader of the German colony are really very similar, and the importance that the various colonists feel about their positions in this "wild" country is totally blown out of proportion.
User Review - 8/10 by Karah BFunny and poignant, Black and White in Color manages to make valid points about colonialism in light of war. This film shows just how comedy can be used for a greater purpose.
User Review - 6/10 by Mark HDirected by Jean-Jaques Annaud Written by Annaud and Georges Conchon [b]Genre[/b]: Drama/War [b]MPAA[/b]: PG [b]Runtime[/b]: 90 minutes [b]Plot Summary[/b]: French colonists in Africa, several months behind in the news, find themselves at war with their German neighbors. Deciding that they must do their proper duty and fight the Germans, they promptly conscript the local native population. Issuing them boots and rifles, the French attempt to make "proper" soldiers out of the Africans. - IMDB Winning the Oscar for best foreign film, [i]Black and White in Color[/i] is a dark comedic satire on the French occupancy of West Africa. Through colonization and imperialism, they Christianized the Africans and trained them to fight in the upcoming war with Germany - even though they all thought it would be with England. As a political film, it is rich in depth; as an entertaining film, it is pretty poor. The film gives you a few simple ideas and gives yuo reason to laugh at them. Which is fine, except that this problem isn't really a laughing matter. No country should try to Christianize or Americanize (oops) other countries in which they deemed "primitive." Who has the right to claim themselves better than another? If you like [i]Black and White in Color[/i], you might also like... - [i]Yaaba [/i](Idrissa Ouedraogo, 1989) - The story focuses on Bila, a ten year old boy who befriends an old woman, Sana. Everybody calls her 'Witch' but Bila himself calls her 'Yaaba' (grandmother). When Bilas cousin Nopoko gets sick it is Sana's medicin who rescues her. - IMDB
User Review - 6/10 by Kiu Ssomewhat entertaining, however this comedy did not age well. would certainly not win best foreign language movie oscar with the much higher caliber of international films today
User Review - 6/10 by David FClever little satire of colonialism and the absurdity of war. Small group of French missionaries and traders living in equatorial Africa learn that World War I has broken out, and decide to raise a native army to attack a nearby German garrison. Planning the attack out as a grand adventure, complete with picnics and parasols, the excursion does rather badly until a serious young scholar takes matters into his own hands. Director Annaud seems to take great delight in cynically skewering inflated French patriotism, bourgeois provincialism and condescending notions of superiority over the local natives, who are portrayed as the only reasonable people taking part in (or more specifically being coerced into) the whole affair.

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