Sets and costumes are perfect, and there is not a single bad actor. However, the it is not a moving film and it scandalously supports slaughtery of colonized rebels, just as golden era Hollywood celebrates the butchery of untamed Indians. Honestly, I expected more from a film from the 80's than this absence of self criticism: there are the bad colonizers (racists, cowards and aristocratic) and there are the good colonizers (handsome liberators with honour and humble origin, and good relationship with reasonable natives, who respectfully provide French peace to Africa, only killing rebels who did not understand French civilization, with a heroic sountrack to highlight that imperialistic heroism). Seriously?! If there is any criticism, it is similar to that of USA Vietnam War movies: how the government did not care about the suffering of its heroes in battlefront. Besides the military issue, the movie also has is personal issue: let me call characters by actors' names: Depadieu's affair with Deneuve ans his love story with Marceau are very undevelopped and unexplained too. Depardieu's brother has an even less connected story, as a three-hour film needed more plots to be added.
