A beam of light penetrates a darkened house, revealing a décor dominated by African style masks. Soon the light shines upon the body of a rebel referred to as “The Boxer.” The soldiers who discover him take out their revenge on the plantation that harbored him before his death.

The scene switches to daytime when a lone white Frenchwoman, Maria Vial (Isabelle Huppert, The Piano Teacher) is walking along a dirt road before she grabs a ride on the back of a crammed bus. There is a sense of desperation and worry in her eyes as she keeps looking back towards small, cloud-swept mountains.

Through a series of flashbacks and revisits to the present, we learn Maria runs a coffee plantation in an unnamed African nation that is being torn apart by a bloody civil war sparked by a resentment of whites who have become rich off of black labor. The French military tells her to leave. Her husband, Andre (Christopher Lambert) tells her to leave. The locals tell her to leave. Maria doesn’t listen.

Maria’s passionate commitment to harvesting her latest coffee crop becomes a twisted mass of stubbornness, insanity and a pinch of blindness to the threat around her. Her own break with reality is only surpassed by her son’s (Nicolas Duvauchelle, Wild Grass, The Girl on the Train) mental collapse.

Directed by Claire Denis (Beau Travail), White Material does a reasonable job of depicting the brutality of civil war, especially with its portrayal of a group young boys and girls who go around killing indiscriminately. However, Denis does not delve far enough into racial relations and so the tension is a little lacking. He also seems obsessed with having silent shots of the deforested countryside, which only serves to slow the film down.

Much of the story is a chaotic mess, resulting in a pacing that can best be described as rocky. Huppert, who made a terrific guest appearance in a 2010 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, delivers a frantic and engrossing performance. While she is supposed to be the story’s heroine, Maria ends up coming across as unlikable and unsympathetic.

Lambert, known best as Connor MacLeod from the Highlander films, is completely underutilized as an actor with a character we know little about. The same holds true for Duvauchelle’s character as he is depicted merely as a lazy, insolent young man before he snaps.

Overall, White Material can be summed up as disappointingly average.

On a letter grade scale from “A” being excellent to “F” for failing, White Material receives a C.

White Material is unrated and has a running time of 106 minutes.

Now showing through March 17 @
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for more information.

By Michael D. Smith

Indie Film Editor

Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.

In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.

Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.

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