Black and White in Color (1976)
"Noirs et blancs en couleur" (original title)

French colonists in Africa, several months behind in the news, find themselves at war with their German neighbors. Deciding that they must do their proper duty and fight the Germans, they ... See full summary »

Director:

Jean-Jacques Annaud

Writers:

Jean-Jacques Annaud, Georges Conchon

Stars:

Jean Carmet, Jacques Dufilho, Catherine Rouvel

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean Carmet	...	Sergeant Bosselet
Jacques Dufilho	...	Paul Rechampot
Catherine Rouvel	...	Marinette
Jacques Spiesser	...	Hubert Fresnoy
Maurice Barrier	...	Caprice
Benjamin Memel Atchory	...	Assomption
Peter Berling	...	Père Jean de la Croix
Marius Beugre Boignan	...	Barthelmy
Claude Legros	...	Jacques Rechampot
Dora Doll	...	Maryvonne
Baye Macoumba Diop	...	Lamartine
Jacques Monnet	...	Père Simon
Dieter Schidor	...	Kraft
Aboubakar Toine	...	Fidele
Marc Zuber	...	Major Anglais

Storyline

French colonists in Africa, several months behind in the news, find themselves at war with their German neighbors. Deciding that they must do their proper duty and fight the Germans, they promptly conscript the local native population. Issuing them boots and rifles, the French attempt to make "proper" soldiers out of the Africans. A young, idealistic French geographer seems to be the only rational person in the town, and he takes over control of the "war" after several bungles on the part of the others.

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Plot Keywords:

geographer | soldier | africa | world war one | firearm | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | War

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Côte d'Ivoire France West Germany Switzerland

Language:

French

Release Date:

8 May 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black and White in Color

Filming Locations:

Côte D'Ivoire

Company Credits

Production Co:

Artco-Film, France 3 Cinéma, Reggane Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the first winner of the Oscar for best foreign language film after the rules for the category were changed requiring all Academy members who wished to vote having to prove they had attended screenings of all five nominees.

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Connections

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007)

User Reviews

Funny, subversive, political.

Somewhat familiar, but often very funny anti-war, anti-imperialist satire/farce.

A motley bunch of French, holding down a colonial fort in Africa, discover that WWI has been declared, so go and attack their German neighbors, using their native semi-servants as soldiers, with disastrous results.

Few films manage to wrestle so well, with so many issues – racism, nationalism, religious hypocrisy, etc.

If it kept to it's most original moments, and didn't fall over the edge occasionally into the silly or obviously preachy at times it would be a great film. As is, I might well re-visit. Some professional critics rave, some hate it.