It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Black and White in Color is a French anti war movie, done as a black comedy, which won the Best Foreign Film Academy Award in 1976.World War I is the setting for the French colonists fighting the Germans on the Ivory Coast. The French draft the locals in order to battle the Germans, supplying the natives with guns, uniforms, and other equipment and attempt to train their reluctant soldiers in the ways of war.The result is a combination of keystone cops and a Marx Brothers saga, with everyone running around, clueless. No one really gets hurt as the real fighting is occurring far from Africa. I am reminded of The Mouse That Roared with Peter Sellers for comparison to Black and White in Color. A funny satire with a positive universal message on man's follies, this is worth watching.

this film lead me on a odyssey: to see as many films of the former colonial masters views of themselves. none of the other films reached the level of brilliance of Black, White in Color.the sheer madness of a rag tag ARMY marching to destruction, followed by the racially "superior" colonist being carried in their SEDAN chairs can only be equaled by SPRING TIME FOR Hitler via the Producers. the writers create many great characters and many moments of hilarity follow. some of my favorite moments: the priest"s servant on his Muslim pray rug praying with a Christian cross dangling from his neck. the priests again, being carried in their SEDAN chairs while being throughly mocked by their porters.the last scenes, with the french consoling the Germans over their loss and the two young strategists comparing notes, self assured of their superiority, can world war two be far?

i've read thru the other comments twice now and think perhaps most did not see the same film i did. this doesn't quite click in my head as just an anti-war film; it is something else, a darker thing that aims at a soft rot inside us all.the development of the character of the geographer, fresnoy, was like a rusty nail hidden in the pudding. he was in the beginning so likeably idealistic; we hoped for him.out of date papers arrive and "war" is discovered in an old issue. in a sudden fervor of nationalistic spirit the colonials are senselessly eager to march into conflict; they are a barely controlled mob. all but one; fresnoy stands apart and counsels talk rather in lieu of instant bloodshed. he is the human voice, his the ignored pleas.after the 'defeat' the fresnoy gets another hearing and with forceful initiative takes charge of a situation seen as hopeless by the others; while they quibble and cavil he begins to organize the outpost for war. he is quite good at this and earns everyone's grudging respect as the fort takes on a martial aspect and the idea of safety once again takes hold.but something happens to fresnoy. most of the colonials are slapstickish fools first, foremost and forever. but fresnoy develops slowly from idealist to man of authority. with power he evolves into a dark shadow of his former self. it is not unlike the descent of kurtz in apocalypse now/heart of darkness. his black mistress openly flaunted, his imperious air, his elevation of africans into minor positions of power all might be seen as his being a moderating and liberating force. i don't think so. i think he has begun to be eaten from the inside by the power he has tasted and that his life will never be the same. the end, where he is seen as almost a twin to the German officer and they both admit to being socialists, is meant only, i believe, as bitter irony.

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.