Blanc d'ébène

I have come to expect much of west African cinema (esp Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso) films of humble scope and rich characterizations. This is possibly the finest example. The "hero" is a French-educated hothead who can no longer speak his mother tongue. The "villain" is a French military officer who is despised by his peers, but accepted into the secret warrior's guild of the village. It blurs the good guy-bad guy divisions, at least 'til the (cheap gimmick) ending.

In 1977 ,Jean-Jacques Annaud directed "la victoire en chantant" which was a commercial failure in France but did win over the AA people and was best foreign film under another title "black and white in color" .It remains ,at least to my eyes,Annaud's best work,totally uncompromising ,far from the Hollywood machine he would bog down in later with the likes of "seven years in Tibet".Annaud's film was a farce ,with no realist pretensions,but it was one of the strongest metaphor of war -and mindless patriotism- I'd ever seen.

"Blanc d'ébène" starts up strongly: on one side ,the warrant officer ,training his troops of natives,in a tiny village out in the sticks in Africa.On the other side,his charming wife ,who is the primary school teacher:at first sight,she seems to represent the positive side:but what does she teach them?French traditional 'Il pleut bergère" ,Napoleon wars ;on the wall,you can see a map of...France and a picture of the Maréchal Pétain -this story takes place circa 1942-.So when the new -black- school headmaster arrives,he does not give a damn about Napoleon and intends to teach them their real History.

Afterward,the plot becomes too diffuse,with small subplots and a pointless white supporting cast as the officers.It would have been a very good short,had they only kept the first third.