Black and White in Color

Winner of the 1976 Oscar for Best Foreign Film, Jean-Jacques Annaud's feature debut pokes fun at the pomposity of a French community on Africa's Ivory Coast circa 1915. Full of colonial hubris, the self-righteous group spends most of its time foisting Western religious and cultural beliefs on the native population. When the colony learns that WWI has broken out, the group trains the locals to take up arms against a previously ignored neighboring German outpost. Alas, co-writer Annaud creates such stereotypically bumbling French blowhards that his otherwise biting satire is blunted. Sporting a fine transfer from a very clean print, the excellent array of DVD extras here include interviews with Annaud and producer Arthur Cohn, plus the 90-minute 1961 Academy Award winning documentary The Sky Above, the Mud Below, about the indigenous people of New Guinea. Two Oscar winners for the price of one makes this recommended, overall. (T. Rich)