The only diversion these men get is occasional fraternization with local women in an open-air disco. Life in the unblinking African sun can mess with your mind, and director Claire Denis wants to make us not just see but feel the atmosphere which threatens to cause the eventual disintegration of the psyche. The narrator of the film is Sgt. He has become an observer.
New recruits arrive.
On one hand, she moves from the bleached starkness of the African sun to the brooding blues and greens of night, occasionally injecting flashes of color in native women's clothing, in a powerful evocation of what must be in many ways a draining existence. In the desolation of this nearly colorless world, the almost shocking elegance of a birthday party complete with red tablecloth and a cake with candles reminds us that there is color and life just beyond. Colin, the fresh-faced recruit, and Subor, the tired old soldier, are just as convincing. Don't miss it.