A French woman living in an unnamed African nation, Maria (played by a fierce Isabelle Huppert), is desperately reluctant to leave her family’s decaying coffee plantation. In spite of a civil war erupting around her as it falls into political chaos, Maria regards the plantation as her personal domain, one she will fight for to the bitter end, even as she is aware that her stubborn attitude is putting those close to her in danger. A film that drops the viewer deep into this maelstrom so convincingly that the sticky heat and tension is palpable, White Material is a physical evocation of the death throes of French colonialism and a fascinating character study of a woman lost in her own psyche, determined not to lose what she believes is hers.
- DIRECTOR: CLAIRE DENIS
- STARRING: ISABELLE HUPPERT, ISAACH DE BANKOLE, CHRISTOPHE LAMBERT, NICOLAS DUVAUCHELLE, WILLIAM NADYLAM
- FRANCE
- 2009
- 105 MINS
- RATING – 15
£6.00 (£4.50 conc.)
Doors 6:30PM
Film 7:00PM
“Isabelle Huppert is superb”
“Characteristically alluring and elliptical… Claire Denis is a genius at conveying both mystery and madness… a beautiful and troubling film”
“Powerful, agonized… terror creeps through this film quietly, sneaking through tall grass, slipping into buildings and moving with increasing tension”
“Offers fascinating insights into the reprehensible actions that can seemingly be justified by a love of country”