Criterion Collection Edition #560
In WHITE MATERIAL, the great contemporary French filmmaker Claire Denis, known for her restless, intimate dramas, introduces an unforgettably crazed character. Played by a ferocious Isabelle Huppert, Maria is an entitled white woman living in Africa, desperately unwilling to give up her family’s crumbling coffee plantation despite the civil war closing in on her. Created with Denis’ signature full-throttle visual style, which places the viewer at the center of the maelstrom, WHITE MATERIAL is a gripping evocation of the death throes of European colonialism and a fascinating look at a woman lost in her own mind.
Directed by Claire Denis • 2009 • France
Starring Isabelle Huppert, Christophe Lambert, Isaach De Bankolé
In WHITE MATERIAL, the great contemporary French filmmaker Claire Denis, known for her restless, intimate dramas, introduces an unforgettably crazed character. Played by a ferocious Isabelle...
This interview with director Claire Denis was recorded in 2010.
This interview with actor Isabelle Huppert was recorded in 2010.
This interview with actor Isaach de Bankolé was recorded in 2010.
In the following deleted scene, from the finale of WHITE MATERIAL, Maria returns to the plantation to find her ex-husband, André, murdered.
In the following short film, director Claire Denis documents her return to Cameroon for the 2010 premiere of WHITE MATERIAL at the Écrans Noirs Film Festival.