"L'Esclave Blanc" was recently brought out of oblivion,thanks to a DVD release,with English subtitles .
First intended for Carl Theodore Dreyer ,who used to talk about the white man,"getting stuck in the sand" in a country which was not his .
Jean-Paul Paulin's work is very obscure ,even for French viewers:when he replaced Dreyer,he had already made three movies,two of which are still screened on TV:"La Femme Nue" and the rather funny comedy "l'Abbé Constantin".He called it a day in 1950,26 years before he died.
To write that "L'ESclave Blanc" is a colonialist movie is to state the obvious:the last pictures show a peaceful land ,under the white man's watchful eye.
A wealthy colonist and his handsome foreman "help" the natives to exploit their land .Enter the old man's daughter who falls in love with ..well,you know the score ....but the boss is not prepared to accept it.The young man is ignominiously fired.
One of the local white men gives him a piece of advice: "get a native wife".He runs away with one of the girls of a village (who has already got a husband).To make sure the boy will stay with her,the black woman gives him a "magic" potion :hence the title ,the white slave.When his former love comes to his rescue,he hardly knows her and tells her he 's forgotten everything.
Beginning with a brief appearance by Henry De Monfreid (who wrote "the secrets of the Red Sea" and also appeared ,under a pseud, in the adventures of Tintin -Les Cigares Du Pharaon-)who explains to the audience that they will discover a mysterious fascinating country.The background was filmed on location and the pictures are splendid indeed,the restoration having been made with care.Some pictures are daring for the time: the young black girl often appears topless and even for a brief scene, completely naked;but after all ,it's only a local,so the 1936 could forgive (and get an eyeful at the same time) The director pits the wise white man against the cruel deceitful natives .The adventures of the foreman can be seen as a descent to hell ,via a fake paradise where another Eve makes him her slave .
For all that,"l'Esclave Blanc" might possess considerable appeal for people interested in the FRench cinema of the thirties.
