WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Keira Brennan The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Hattie I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Brooklynn There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

batuhancanliturk In our daily lives, we use the word "identification" for variety of things that concern social and environmental factors. However, we really do not know what the identification means. Identification is a complicated progress that person never has a full control over this psychological situation. In Lacanian terms, identification can be considered as an instance of comprehension (Lacan J., Gallagher C., 2002). Any external factor can captivate the people to make it become their self-component. "White Material" is a must-see example for the identification issues with questioning colonization.Although of her French origin, Maria considers herself as an African person. She has left France and never desires to return. She herself disdains the white French people with saying "These dirty whites... They don't deserve this beautiful land.". It can be obviously seen that she does not perceive herself as a French, while the rebels and the army call her as one such "dirty white" who is responsible for the country's filthiness. Although all threats, Maria does not retreat her actions for the coffee plantation. When she decides to travel for finding new workers, she even does not want to take the rifle with her. She believes that no harm might occur because of her appeal, identifying herself as an African makes her think in that way. As events spread, it is more clear to everyone around Maria that the situation is turning into less secure and more dangerous. It is important to see that what home means and how it feels to belong in a situation where others mark you an outsider. Manuel also suffers from being white. After two African boys mess with him and cut off his hair, he shaves himself and joins the rebels. We can see that, there is an obvious identity confusion for Manuel who lives for many years in this land as a white people. His depression is a sign of vulnerability for his belongings. Joining rebels can be interpreted as his reaction to again himself and his family to unravel confusion about his identity.As we learn that the coffee plantation is established and owned by Maria's father. His wish is maintaining plantation by his family especially by his daughter, Maria. Plantation has been operated with African workers for years and it seems like a colonial symbol throughout the history. Since the first European colonies on African continent, plantations have been a major slavery places for the African black people. They are purchase by the plantation owners and they can be traded or sold as goods (Austin G., 2017). Although plantations are not operated in that way now, they offer still bad facilities for the African people. They are pushed to work in unacceptable conditions in different types of plantations. Because of that, Maria thinks her father as a root for dirtiness of white people and consequently colonization. In this manner, killing her own father reveals her anger and sorrow about the African people who are the slaves of the plantation. Hence, she wants to end this colonization by destroying the foundation of it. Like mentioned earlier, her father can be seen as a foundation. Feeling and identifying herself as an African sets up the idea of releasing her inner-self and showing where she belongs.

paul2001sw-1 How does a country descend into civil war, and from there, to genocidal slaughter? Some of the most terrible stories of recent years come from Africa (poverty being one obvious driver) and this film, like the more famous 'Hotel Rwanda', is set in such terrain. I personally found the latter film unsatisfactory, as it told a story of basically good people attacked, in effect, by mindless zombies: 'White Material' is better at giving a portrait of life in a society where the pillars of order are crumbling, and thereby offers a more convincing narrative as to how the bonds of normal human decency might break. It also offers an interesting perspective by looking at events from the viewpoint of white farmers: not evil per se (although the film doesn't make them particularly sympathetic), but owning too many resources in a land that sees that claim to title as rooted in the colonial past. What doesn't work, for me, is the particular plot: while the mood of the characters, and of their world, is well created, the details of the situation remain unclear: who does what to who, and why, remains frustratingly enigmatic. Isabelle Huppert is good in the lead role; but the absence of a black African in a role of matching prominence is arguably a weakness, the murder goes on and the explanation is never quite forthcoming. Perhaps that's asking too much of a mere movie: if the explanation was obvious, the world would not have to endure so much pointless suffering.

carlitaantonini A story of a distressed woman willing to die and sacrifice her own family rather than giving up some acres of land somewhere in the middle of nowhere merely to prove (to none) that she is not afraid.Isabelle Huppert provides as always an excellent and charming neurotic character. Her character is brave and determined but the whole objective of her determination makes no sense at all.Overall, the script is pretty poor. It is not certain if the movie wants to talk about female neurosis, ignorant expatriates behavior, social revolution, oppressed against colonizers, black and white or simply tell the story of how someone can get blind by her own ego.Nice photography of landscapes, some minutes of enjoying to see Huppert acting and absolutely nothing more.

trpuk1968 White Material promotes the idea of Africa as 'heart of darkness'. Having the action take place in an 'unnamed African country' has the effect of making the entire continent a locus for every kind of depravity and evil, because this could be 'anywhere and everywhere' on the continent. Giving no historical, social or political context for the events which unfold situates them outside of any framework and has the effect of portraying Africans as irrational: a racist discourse which has been sustained since the eighteenth century and on, when justifications had to be found firstly for slavery and then later on for colonial exploitation. I hope I ve read this film wrong because I enjoyed Denis' other film 35 Shots of Rum and, although I ve not seen it, I heard her film Chocolat is empathetic towards Africans.