DECOLONIZATION’S UGLINESS IS EXPOSED IN WHITE MATERIAL
White Material, directed by Claire Denis, follows the format of French realism (cinema verité), leaving filmviewers passive observers of unexplained if paradigmatic events. For Denis, who was born in Paris but as the daughter of a French diplomat grew up in Cameroon, Senegal, Somalia, and Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), the fictional account displays how Black Africa treated White colonistes (“white material”) during the period before and immediately after independence in 1960. Although María Vial (played by Isabelle Huppert) wants to carry on as usual in the only country that she has ever known by harvesting coffee beans, the new government is at odds with rebels, complicating her routine. The resulting anarchy plays out inexorably, presenting a puzzle–whether the abrupt ending of colonialism in Africa might have had a smoother transition. The answer is in the negative. MH