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This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Black and White in Color is a 1976 film about the unctuous specter of war and its curious effects on the small African colonial community of Fort Coulais. The white colonists of the town largely consists of wholesale merchants the Rechampots (Dufilho, Legros and Doll), the sexually frustrated Simon's (Monnet and Rouvel), two bumbling Catholic priests (Berling and Boignan), a permanently drunk sergeant (Carmet) and young geographer Hubert (Spiesser). It is through a care package sent to Hubert that the townsfolk discover France has been at war with Germany for a little over a month and in a patriotic fervor decide to take on the nearby settlement in German Togoland. To do this however they must coop the large black population.Exploding onto the scene as a powerful calling card for director Jean-Jacques Annaud, Black and White in Color benefits from some sly and surprising comic set-pieces. Those expecting the dour humorlessness of Enemy at the Gates (2001) will instead find moments of genuine mirth, plain and in the open among the noxious absurdity of war. In one scene palanquin carriers chant clever songs as they labor to bring the priests to their destination. While whites hear them and think they're gibberish, the locals know they're singing about the quality of their passengers. On many occasions the white colonists celebrate their piddly (and few) successes while black Catholic converts Caprice (Barrier) and Assomption (Atchory) shake their heads in disbelief; muttering to themselves "ugh, white people."There are times when the light-hearted humor threatens to sabotage the themes of the story from within. Thankfully we have the character progression of the young Hubert Fresnoy who at first seems the least enthused about battling the Germans. As the only learned member of the colonists, Hubert reluctantly leads the defense of Fort Coulais and the Sisyphean task of taking the neighboring German settlement. When we first meet him, he's drafting a letter to a school friend. In it he writes "I dare say, that in many respects the natives are not far from meriting the honored name of men," pitting him as the most enlightened of his compatriots. Yet war takes a toll on idealists as both Hubert and the audience come to realize. A toll that might just rob him of his humanity.If ever there was a character that best exemplifies the goals of the film it'd be Jacques Dufilho's Paul Rechampot. While being the most outspoken and vain of the white colonists, he's also the most selfish, going so far as to bury cans of sardines and other supplies so their conscripted army won't take them. Bearing a thick, angry mustache, fierce eyes and brimming with hubris, the man against the elements superimposes a thesis of absurdity; like herding cats or confidently pissing in the wind.What's ultimately missing from Black and White in Color is serious input from the locals themselves. Shot entirely in Cote d'Ivoire, the film feels like a satirical screed on war, religion and colonialism which, while well argued, nevertheless feels like it could have used at least one strong black character. Assomption gets a moment to shine as he gatekeeps for Hubert but we never get to really see the horrors of war up close from the subjugated perspective; from the soldier's perspective. So many men die as a result of hostilities yet the film's preoccupation with the white settlers blunts what could have made for a more damning film.Thankfully, Jean-Jacques Annaud's clever direction and a few choice satirical images sure to stick with you make Black and White in Color worth a gander. Sure it might be plagued with one too many "white- guilt chic" moments, but at least you know it's heart is in the right place.

Black and White in Color is a French anti war movie, done as a black comedy, which won the Best Foreign Film Academy Award in 1976.World War I is the setting for the French colonists fighting the Germans on the Ivory Coast. The French draft the locals in order to battle the Germans, supplying the natives with guns, uniforms, and other equipment and attempt to train their reluctant soldiers in the ways of war.The result is a combination of keystone cops and a Marx Brothers saga, with everyone running around, clueless. No one really gets hurt as the real fighting is occurring far from Africa. I am reminded of The Mouse That Roared with Peter Sellers for comparison to Black and White in Color. A funny satire with a positive universal message on man's follies, this is worth watching.

There are great movies about colonialism, like The Battle of Algiers or Lawrence of Arabia, which show the complicated relationships between settlers and natives and the natives' struggle for freedom. And then there are comedies like Black and White in Color which make you wonder how the settlers rose to power in the first place.This biting comedy is a scathing indictment of French colonialism in Africa and is deliberately uneven in its portrayal of the French as a bunch of morons, drunks, cowards and hypocrites, apparently unable to handle their own lives let alone an empire.The action begins in 1915. World War I started many months ago but news take a long time to get there, and the French go about their lives, oblivious, continuing their nice relations with their German neighbors just across the river. But when they receive newspapers with the war news, they decide it's time to declare war on their peaceful neighbors because France is wherever the French are settled.So they recruit natives and go to war with disastrous consequences. One of my favorite sequences is when all the French settlers go on a picnic to watch the natives charge against the German fort. The French sit around in the shade, drinking wine and eating and commenting on the battle as if talking about sports. Then they hear the sound of machine guns and they realize things aren't as easy as they expected.The Germans come across as better in this movie. That's evident from the beginning, when their flag is vibrantly waving in the wind, as opposed to the French one which stays still. The Germans are better equipped and trained, whereas the French go arrogantly into war without preparation. It's quite obvious who's the target of this movie.But in the end this is an indictment of any country that's ever had colonies in Africa, whether it be France, Spain or Portugal. It's all here: the spite for the natives' culture, the Christian proselytizing, the assumption of European superiority. But the settlers are so dumb you wonder how they could have conquered anything in the first place, and the answer is clear: it's got nothing to do with intelligence or racial superiority, just good old strength in numbers and weapons.Black and White in Color was made 33 years ago but it's still relevant today. Wherever nations continue to impose their will upon others through force, I don't doubt the same waste, abuses and incompetence depicted here will go on. For that reason, this movie is well worth watching.

Colonial exploitation couched in goofiness for almost two hours. There is not one likable character in the whole film.While an interesting concept, and potentially subtle for those lacking any familiarity with colonial history (particularly in Africa), the film never makes it beyond detached irony in its treatment of the subject.To place the film on par with the Battle for Algiers or All Quiet on the Western front is a bit of a stretch. This may have been one of the last relics of colonialism in Africa before African filmmakers claimed the genre as their own and cast "the natives" as real human beings rather than sad pawns abused by European protagonists.