The 1976 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film was a little gem entitled Black and White in Color (BWC) (Noirs et blancs en couleur (1976)). Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, this film was effectively rescued from oblivion by its surprising but well-deserved Oscar recognition. BWC was a commercial flop in Annaud’s native France but was well-received not only in America but internationally. It was shot in the Ivory Coast, but has more the feel of a French film than an African one.

Historical Background: This was Annaud’s first feature film. He had only directed television commercials previously. He later directed such films as Coup de Tete (1979), Quest for Fire (1981), The Name of the Rose (1986), The Bear (1989), Seven Years in Tibet (1997), and Enemy at the Gates (2001).

The Story: A small group of French colonists are operating an outpost in a village of the Ivory Coast in equatorial Africa. They are mostly self-absorbed and narrow-minded types, unimpressive yet in possession of an inflated sense of self-importance and convinced of their innate superiority to the natives. Paul Rechampot (Jacques Dufilho) and his dim-witted brother, Jacques (Claude Legros) operate a supply operation while Caprice (Maurice Barrier) runs the retail store. The Rechampot brothers share one French woman between them. Among their good customers is a German officer who is part of an even smaller German outpost in the adjacent German territory. The French military presence at the fort consists of just one man, Sergeant Bosselet (Jean Carmet), who occupies himself mainly with drinking, reveling in the past, awaiting retirement, and bedding the native women – one or two at a time. There are also two Catholic priests, Father John of the Cross (Peter Berling) and Father Simon (Jacques Monnet), ostensibly in the business of converting natives, but more actively engaged in making profits by bartering cheap religious icons for native goods. The priests are ill-inclined to walk anywhere and are carted about on rickety palanquins while enjoying the natives’ song, little knowing the song's meaning. The one group of palanquin-bearers sings, “The fool we carry is fat as a pig,” to which the other groups replies, “But our guy’s feet smell like dung.”

An island of seeming sanity amidst this sea of stupidity is a young man, Hubert Fresnoy (Jacques Spiesser), who is a geographer and researcher. Fresnoy is almost unbigoted – at least relative to his French compatriots. We oversee him writing a letter to his former teacher, “tell our friends not to be so sure about the inferiority of the black race. . . I daresay that in many respects the natives are not far from meriting the honored name of men.”

Fresnoy receives a long-overdue package from home with some books and newspapers – though the papers are some six months out-of-date. News seldom reaches this remote outpost. It is early in 1915 and the Frenchmen learn that France has been at war with Germany for several months. One of the Frenchmen casually offers that he thought it would have been England. In a flush of misguided patriotism and jingoism, the half-dozen or so French men and women determine that it is their duty to do their part for the war effort. They sing patriotic songs and impose upon Sergeant Bosselet to organize an attack on the German outpost. Only Hubert recognizes the insanity of the notion. Sergeant Bosselet is encouraged to organize the local natives into a ragtag militia and to attack immediately while they still have the element of surprise. The Frenchmen and their ladies, dressed to the nines, are transported by native carriers to a pleasant vantage point so that they can picnic while watching the ensuing attack, which, it is supposed, will be something of a cakewalk. After all, they are six while the Germans are only three. The Germans, however, have actually trained their native soldiers and have machine guns, so it is the natives fighting for the French that are systematically slaughtered. Worse still, for the French, their picnic has to be cut short!

It is now obvious that these foolhardy French men and women will be ripe for slaughter if and when the Germans counterattack. Nevertheless, most of them are prepared to go about their business-as-usual and to hope that the Germans will be merciful. Into this vacuum steps Hubert Fresnoy. Turns out that Fresnoy knows a bit of history as well as geography and that by itself qualifies him as the preeminent (only, in this instance) strategist at the French outpost. Fresnoy confronts Sergeant Bosselet in regards to his plan of defense (he has none) and, by the superiority of Fresnoy’s leadership skills, he begins to take responsibility and control of the security efforts of the outpost. He skillfully enlists the confidence of the priests and invites suggestions from the merchants (they have none), then organizes their activities. Caprice is sent on a mission to seek instructions from the nearest French military command. Fresnoy and Bosselet inform the local chief (who lost a half-dozen good men in the initial fiasco) that he must furnish a hundred soldiers for the French-led defense of his village. Fresnoy suggests, and the chief concurs, that this quota can best be met by the chief’s men kidnapping natives from the savanna, who the chief characterizes as stupid but strong. Fresnoy is effective in raising French security to a level that holds the Germans at bay. Soon, however, the native troops on both sides are slaughtering one another and perishing from diseases encountered in the trench warfare during the rainy season.

Fresnoy has now risen to the top of the pecking order in this miniature French society, since the Frenchmen and women are utterly dependent on him for their lives and security. His superior capabilities are undeniable. That Fresnoy has also proven to be as callous an exploiter of the black natives as any good white supremist is of no consequence to them. Still, Fresnoy maintains what remains of his liberal/socialist credentials in one respect – he takes a mistress from among the native women and actually treats her with decent respect. One of the more humorous scenes occurs when Fresnoy’s compatriots are having to try to sort out the new dominance hierarchy in relation to Fresnoy’s mistress. They must bow to her and kiss her hand, since she is the partner of their revered leader, but that contradicts their cherished belief in the inherent inferiority of the blacks.

Themes: Perhaps the foremost theme of this film is the absurdity of war, but close behind is a broader satirizing of arrogance, racism, colonialism, jingoism, and human stupidity in general. Certainly these are apt messages for today as well, in this time of American arrogance and imperialism in the Middle East and continued racism and classism throughout our society. Somehow, we steadfastly resist learning from our past foibles.

As a good satirist, Annaud is even-handed in lampooning whites and blacks alike as well as the French, Germans, and British. For example, the local chief is as arrogant toward the blacks of the savanna as are the whites toward the local natives. The French impress the local blacks into military service, so the local blacks impress the less developed savanna blacks into military service. At the end of the film, the British make their first appearance – except that the British force includes not a single actual British native. It is composed of African natives and headed up by an Indian junior officer. This is all war by proxy. In the reality of World War I, two million African men were pressed into service for one European country or another and some 200,000 were killed – most without ever knowing what they were fighting about.

The Cast: The cast is composed mainly of various French character actors, including a couple of my old favorites from The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (TBM) (1972): Jean Carmet and Maurice Barrier. Carmet plays Sergeant Bosselet in the current film and was Maurice in TBM. Barrier plays Caprice, one of the merchants, in BWC and was Chaperone in TBM. Barrier also appeared in Les Comperes (1983) and in The Return of Martin Guerre (1982). Jacques Spiesser, who plays Hubert Fresnoy in BWC, also appeared in Stavinsky (1974). Claude Legros, who plays the moronic Jacques Rechampot in BWC also appeared in La Nuit de Varennes (1982). Peter Berling, who plays one of the priests, Père Jean de la Croix, previously worked in Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) as well as Fitzcarraldo (1982).

Bottom-Line: The foremost quality of this film is the deft satirical touch that Annaud applies to his subject matter. While there are some outright laughs in this material, it is mostly in the category of nod-and-smile humor. I’d rather laugh at the foolishness of war than just about anything else, so for me it was humor that worked very effectively. Although not on a par with the great The King of Hearts (few films are), it covers somewhat the same kind of thematic territory.

The DVD version of this film from Home Vision Entertainment provides a high-quality transfer with impressively vivid colors. In addition, there is a particularly welcome extra in the form of an 88 minute 1961 documentary entitled “The Sky Above, the Mud Below” about a trek into the interior of New Guinea. This documentary itself won an Oscar and is entertaining while also providing insights into native rituals among arguably the world’s most isolated and primitive peoples. I highly recommend both the main feature and the exceptional bonus material. Black and White in Color is in French with English subtitles and has a running time of 91 minutes.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older