I've been hooked on film since the age of five. For my first decade as a film buff I watched what was most accessible i.e. Hollywood/UK releases roughly 80-20. In my mid/late teens I became aware of Film Societies/Clubs and via them French Cinema which, I quickly realised, was equal to and often eclipsed my staple Hollywood/UK fare. In the fullness of time I was able to visit Paris regularly and gorge on French movies but even so I barely scratched the surface and even today I've probably seen less than 4,000 French films lifetime. But it wouldn't have been near that many had I not become active at IMDb in 2003. Soon after I began posting I was contacted by a French man who was sympathetic to the fact that I was sympathetic to French Cinema. We became firm friends and he has been more than generous in supplying a steady stream of French movies, many of which I could never have hoped to see otherwise. L'Esclave blanc is a case in point. Obscure even in France virtually no one connected with it is known to anyone but the most serious cinefile. Director Jean-Paul Paulin made 18 films in 19 years, none of any note; the screenplay is the sole screen credit of Ernesto Quadrone; actress Jeanette Fernay made a total of 8 movies, 2 of which were silent, Luisa Garella made 13 and so on. This means that if you are even mildly interested in French Cinema of the 30s this has curio value but if, as I do, you love French Cinema of the 30s this is invaluable as an example of what else was available besides Arletty, Gabin, Carne, Renoir etc and I am even more deeply indebted to my French friend for making this available to me. Somehow a new print has been struck which brings out the contrast between the location shooting - the film is set in Africa - and Paulin's unimaginative direction - he shoots everything in Master Shot, Long Shot Mid Shot, Two Shot, Medium Close Up, Close Up. Text Book. Billy Wilder did the same thing but with Wilder you didn't notice. The story is banal in the extreme. Out in the bush a wealthy landowner and his foremen are bravely shouldering the White Man's burden when the owner's daughter appears on the scene. Before you can say bwana she and the foreman are an item. This doesn't sit too well with daddy so the foreman settles for a native girl who, anticipating Nina Simone by about for years puts a spell on him to keep him constant. That's about it but as someone once said it's the way you tell 'em. In this case, alas, not too well but it remains fascinating for the reasons outlined above.
2 Reviews
Tabu
dbdumonteil1 June 2009
"L'Esclave Blanc" was recently brought out of oblivion,thanks to a DVD release,with English subtitles .
First intended for Carl Theodore Dreyer ,who used to talk about the white man,"getting stuck in the sand" in a country which was not his .
Jean-Paul Paulin's work is very obscure ,even for French viewers:when he replaced Dreyer,he had already made three movies,two of which are still screened on TV:"La Femme Nue" and the rather funny comedy "l'Abbé Constantin".He called it a day in 1950,26 years before he died.
To write that "L'ESclave Blanc" is a colonialist movie is to state the obvious:the last pictures show a peaceful land ,under the white man's watchful eye.
A wealthy colonist and his handsome foreman "help" the natives to exploit their land .Enter the old man's daughter who falls in love with ..well,you know the score ....but the boss is not prepared to accept it.The young man is ignominiously fired.
One of the local white men gives him a piece of advice: "get a native wife".He runs away with one of the girls of a village (who has already got a husband).To make sure the boy will stay with her,the black woman gives him a "magic" potion :hence the title ,the white slave.When his former love comes to his rescue,he hardly knows her and tells her he 's forgotten everything.
Beginning with a brief appearance by Henry De Monfreid (who wrote "the secrets of the Red Sea" and also appeared ,under a pseud, in the adventures of Tintin -Les Cigares Du Pharaon-)who explains to the audience that they will discover a mysterious fascinating country.The background was filmed on location and the pictures are splendid indeed,the restoration having been made with care.Some pictures are daring for the time: the young black girl often appears topless and even for a brief scene, completely naked;but after all ,it's only a local,so the 1936 could forgive (and get an eyeful at the same time) The director pits the wise white man against the cruel deceitful natives .The adventures of the foreman can be seen as a descent to hell ,via a fake paradise where another Eve makes him her slave .
For all that,"l'Esclave Blanc" might possess considerable appeal for people interested in the FRench cinema of the thirties.
First intended for Carl Theodore Dreyer ,who used to talk about the white man,"getting stuck in the sand" in a country which was not his .
Jean-Paul Paulin's work is very obscure ,even for French viewers:when he replaced Dreyer,he had already made three movies,two of which are still screened on TV:"La Femme Nue" and the rather funny comedy "l'Abbé Constantin".He called it a day in 1950,26 years before he died.
To write that "L'ESclave Blanc" is a colonialist movie is to state the obvious:the last pictures show a peaceful land ,under the white man's watchful eye.
A wealthy colonist and his handsome foreman "help" the natives to exploit their land .Enter the old man's daughter who falls in love with ..well,you know the score ....but the boss is not prepared to accept it.The young man is ignominiously fired.
One of the local white men gives him a piece of advice: "get a native wife".He runs away with one of the girls of a village (who has already got a husband).To make sure the boy will stay with her,the black woman gives him a "magic" potion :hence the title ,the white slave.When his former love comes to his rescue,he hardly knows her and tells her he 's forgotten everything.
Beginning with a brief appearance by Henry De Monfreid (who wrote "the secrets of the Red Sea" and also appeared ,under a pseud, in the adventures of Tintin -Les Cigares Du Pharaon-)who explains to the audience that they will discover a mysterious fascinating country.The background was filmed on location and the pictures are splendid indeed,the restoration having been made with care.Some pictures are daring for the time: the young black girl often appears topless and even for a brief scene, completely naked;but after all ,it's only a local,so the 1936 could forgive (and get an eyeful at the same time) The director pits the wise white man against the cruel deceitful natives .The adventures of the foreman can be seen as a descent to hell ,via a fake paradise where another Eve makes him her slave .
For all that,"l'Esclave Blanc" might possess considerable appeal for people interested in the FRench cinema of the thirties.
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