Claire Denis

White Material

White Material

In White Material, the great contemporary French filmmaker Claire Denis, known for her restless, intimate dramas, introduces an unforgettably crazed character. Played by a ferocious Isabelle Huppert, Maria is an entitled white woman living in Africa, desperately unwilling to give up her family’s crumbling coffee plantation despite the civil war closing in on her. Created with Denis’ signature full-throttle visual style, which places the viewer at the center of the maelstrom, White Material is a gripping evocation of the death throes of European colonialism and a fascinating look at a woman lost in her own mind.

Film Info

  • France
  • 2009
  • 105 minutes
  • Color
  • 2.35:1
  • French
  • Spine #560

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • New digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Claire Denis and cinematographer Yves Cape, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
  • New interviews with Denis and actors Isabelle Huppert and Isaach de Bankolé
  • Short documentary by Denis on the film’s premiere at the 2010 Écrans Noirs Film Festival in Cameroon
  • Deleted scene
  • Theatrical trailer
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: A new essay by film writer Amy Taubin

    New cover by Michael Boland

Purchase Options

Director-Approved Special Edition Features

  • New digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Claire Denis and cinematographer Yves Cape, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
  • New interviews with Denis and actors Isabelle Huppert and Isaach de Bankolé
  • Short documentary by Denis on the film’s premiere at the 2010 Écrans Noirs Film Festival in Cameroon
  • Deleted scene
  • Theatrical trailer
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: A new essay by film writer Amy Taubin

    New cover by Michael Boland
White Material
Cast
Isabelle Huppert
Maria Vial
Christophe Lambert
André Vial
Bankolé Isaach De
The Boxer
Nicolas Duvauchelle
Manuel Vial
William Nadylam
Chérif, the mayor
Michel Subor
Henri Vial
Adèle Ado
Lucie Vial
Daniel Tchangang
José Vial
Credits
Director
Claire Denis
Written by
Claire Denis
Written by
Marie NDiaye
Producer
Pascal Caucheteux
Music
Tindersticks
Cinematography
Yves Cape
Editing
Guy Lecorne
Sound
Jean-Paul Mugel
Sound
Christophe Winding
Sound
Christophe Vingtrinier
Costumes
Judy Shrewsbury

Current

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White Material: Out of Africa
A nightmare from which no one awakes, Claire Denis’ White Material (2009) takes place in a nameless African country teetering on the brink of all-out civil war. It is the veteran French director’s toughest work, unsparing with its characters a…

By Amy Taubin

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