Hide Article Text (OCR)
Satirical 'Black and White' puts colonizers in their placeTRIBUNE MINI-REVIEWWar Qimti* I *-ntACK AND WHITE IN COLORH icvreuv if **••MW f nain/b Aflbtf C«K Mmi MH?*• *** CIM*MTHt CASTMmM MiC»rr*1JuA V*(QUM Ohrt**MtA'vflc Caftan* n#wv*JMfM IfMWjW0MH OMOdPPI« _ HwliMagWf *•**•#•♦«* CUwAi Ufa*fa*** feme* Jry— iiifclN'«lt;By Gene SiskelMowo cnncSUHFM5E arming this year's iLJRl Academy Award? wji (he selection of Black ond While in Color os W m beit foreign language film. A French co-production mode Tn the Ivory Coast. Black and White in Color Is the first African film to win the award. It beat out heavily favored Cousin. 0008106, the biggest French hit in the United States since A Mon and n Woman.Chances In voting rules far foreign language Tilms may have contributed to the up-sct. but the choice is by no means embarrassing.Black and White in Color is disorienting at first. It's been a long tlmo since I’ve seen a political satire tnat has so much bite and so little bombast. That made it a tough picture to figure out.Set in West Africa in 1014. Black ond Whito In Color begins as the Indictment of French Imperialists overrunning African culture. We sec a imnll French settlement (two traders, two whores, two missionaries, and two military men) control a large native village. The traders, who are brothers, have a monopoly; the whores have a duopoly; and the missionaries do rather well trading the natives cheap Catholic medallions for valuable African art.TIIF. TONE OF these exploitation scenes rims swiftly between light and dark. The missionaries arc pompous fools, but when they throw an African carving on a fire, you con hear the wood bounce upon wood and’ * watch a heritage go up in smoke. The trad-* crs are bumbling Tools, but wo are shocked into remembering they hold the upper hand when one trader slaps his African servant in the face — just for kicksJust as wo’re catching Ihe rhyihm of the picture, it changes. The settlement gets word that France and Germany have declared war. The settlement is soon involvedin a battle with a nearby German settlement. and Black and White in Color suddenly enlarges Its scope from a racial study to a look at war. The stupidity of World War I Is revealed in microcosm through the stupidity of whot happens next In the film.The French begin training African troops for defense. A pacifist member of the settlement takes charge and even ho becomes corrupted by the war All the while, there are pointed reminders of the arrogance of white rule In Africa. We see translations of what the Africans are saying about the whites The white man's feet stink is the translation of a tribal song sung as the Africans are forced to carry the whites around the countryside In chairs.At a time when Ihe American film industry is swinging to broadly escapist fare. Black ana While In Color. Is a sharp reminder that films can do more than remove us from the world. They alio can bring the world closer to os.The Biogranh Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Av.. this week concludes its tribute to director Robert Allman. The program; Nashville'’ (Monday); Buffalo Bill and the Indians and California Split (Tuesday); nnd Thieves Like Us and The Ixmg Goodbye (Wednesday and Thursday). Admission to each program is $2 SOin thoJacques Duf.lfio and Cloudo logros are French colonials dressed for battle political satire Bl3ck and Whit© in Cotor.
Newspaper Details
, ,
Mon, Jan 01, 0001
Page 18
Full Page
Clipped by
Rotten T.
USA 18 Jun 2020
Other Publications Near ,
News Journal
Suburbanite Economist
Southend Reporter
Community Publications
Southtown Economist
