MARIO GAUCI This Ivory Coast Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner - the country's only ever Oscar contender - that is, however, mostly spoken in French, with the rest being translated into English via burnt-in sub titles(!), had been shown on local TV in the late 1980s as part of a cycle dedicated to such recipients, but I had missed out on it back then. It surprisingly triumphed over the more touted official French and Italian entries, namely COUSIN COUSINE (an upcoming viewing) and SEVEN BEAUTIES (both 1975) - the later of which was even nominated for Best Direction! The film looks great and is well-served by an ironically bouncy score courtesy of Pierre Bachelet (best-known for his electronic accompaniment to several softcore titles of the era!). Still, while the director won his only Oscar here, his debut effort, he would become more renowned for subsequent efforts such as QUEST FOR FIRE (1981), THE NAME OF THE ROSE (1986) and THE BEAR (1988).The premise is a very original one - albeit still reminiscent of KING OF HEARTS and THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING! THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING! (both 1966) - involving the reaction of a French military contingent stationed in the West African country at the outbreak of WWI (even if they only learn of the conflict six months after it began and have no idea whether the hostilities were still raging by then!). Still, their code of ethics renders them duty-bound to join in the fight and, under the reluctant leadership of Jean Carmet, lead an assault on the German ranks posted there…but, having been so long out of action, they suffer a mighty trashing! Following this, a young, soft-spoken geographer (who had opposed the impetuous initial offensive) takes matters in hand – his organized yet stern handling of the situation (such as negotiating with the local tribes to provide experienced warriors in a subsequent onslaught) garners him the respect of his elders (including shifty store owner Jacques Dufilho and his idiot brother – who likes to take it out on the natives! – and a couple of priests) and the admiration of the two women at the settlement (especially Catherine Rouvel, still retaining the sultry looks of her star-making role in Jean Renoir's LUNCH ON THE GRASS seventeen years earlier!). Eventually, he ends up having Kurtz-like delusions of grandeur and lapses in loyalty by taking on an attractive African woman as his lover. Ultimately, they lose the battle on account of the unpredictable elements: the victorious British army turns up to take over control and the wannabe strategist learns he has a lot in common with the similarly learned German commanding officer!

Dave from Ottawa The point here is that, in a clash of foreign colonial powers, the locals inevitably get the worst of it. This point is made early on and gets little further elaboration as the drama plays out. Giving the Oscar for best foreign film to a movie which was, let's be honest, a decent enough but obvious and not unusually clever satire on a serious topic (WWI), had to be some misguided exercise in political correctness before such nonsense had been given a name. Yes, it is fairly remarkable that a film with international appeal could be financed and shot in a place like the Ivory Coast. We get this. But an award for BEST foreign film, at a time when many national cinemas (Germany, France and Italy especially) were churning out a pretty impressive product, seems like tokenism. There. I said it. Go ahead and be offended.The film itself is watchable enough but ordinary. The pacing is slow, the characters are not particularly sharply drawn, and the plotting - mostly a series of military misadventures and misunderstandings - is nothing really clever. It works well enough, but had me neither slapping my knees in merriment, nor nodding in acknowledgement of its cinematic skill. If Hollywood had cranked out something along the same lines we would have expected a higher level of creativity. It has unexpected moments of simple entertainment thanks to some old-fashioned knockabout comedy, but even this is executed with no display of unusual skill on the part of the film's makers. Everything manages to hold together well enough and move the story along - the cinematography of the African locations looks good - but there is just nothing here that is special enough to elevate the project above the realm of the merely good and giving it such a prestigious award as if it does seems dishonest. Watch it, but don't let the Oscar voters snow you. It's an okay movie, and an honest attempt at creating international cinema in an unexpected place. It's just not THAT GREAT.

Lee Eisenberg In this biting satire on war, colonialism and racism, French troops in 1915 Gabon learn that their country has declared war on Germany. Knowing that there are German troops nearby, they decide to train the colonized Africans to fight. Only one person in the French contingent seems to have an iota of reason to his thinking.I think that "Noirs et blancs en couleur" (called "Black and White in Color" in English) shows imperialism in its most pathetic, depraved form. Not only do the colonizers want the colonized people to fight for the empire, but there's one scene that especially emphasizes this. When some rich people go out for a picnic, they watch the fighting as though it's a spectator sport; a form of entertainment, if you will. But they get mighty shocked when they see how violent it is. Apparently, these colonialists are so completely brainwashed by their own pro-war, nationalistic propaganda, that they fail to realize how ugly war actually is, and they're in for a rude awakening when they find the truth.Anyway, this is definitely a movie that I recommend. We could use some advice from it, what with the mess that we've made in Iraq. Certainly a good one for Jean-Jacques Annaud, and it definitely deserved Best Foreign Language Film.

MartinHafer While I would be the first to admit that this slight little film will probably not change your life, it is very clever and well worth watching. It is the story of an inept little French village in West Africa that discovers that World War I has been raging for 6 months. So, as patriotic Frenchmen, they decide to launch a completely inept invasion of a nearby German village--even though they had been on excellent terms for some time. The silly slogans and patriotism as well as the ensuing stupidity of their assault is a great mini-version of the real war back in Europe. The parallel is actually quite smart as is the acting and direction.A slight movie, yes, but it will give you a little chuckle and it's all harmless fun.