''Cauchemar Blanc'' ( English: ''White Nightmare'') is a 1991

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

Mathieu Kassovitz Mathieu Kassovitz () is a French actor, film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has won three César Awards: Most Promising Actor for '' See How They Fall'' (1994), and Best Film and Best Editing for '' La Haine'' (1995). He also re ...

, based on the comic written for the screen by Moebius.

Plot

One winter's night in France, four racists, J.P., Berthon, Barjout, and René, set out to

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

a local

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

man. The four follow him to a vacant

parking lot A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdi ...

outside of an

apartment building An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement ( Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) ...

, but the

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

they are in suddenly starts smoking, causing them to crash into a

phone booth A telephone booth, telephone kiosk, telephone call box, telephone box or public call box is a tiny structure furnished with a payphone and designed for a telephone user's convenience; typically the user steps into the booth and closes the booth ...

. Barjout is knocked

unconscious Unconscious may refer to: Physiology * Unconsciousness, the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli Psychology * Unconscious mind, the mind operating well outside the attention of the conscious mind a ...

, but the others are unharmed. As the remaining three are about to attack the quite fearless (albeit defenseless) Arab, a woman in the building threatens to call the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

. Impersonating a police-officer, J.P. heads into the building to assuage the situation. When an Afro-French denizen accuses J.P. of lying, he becomes angered and begins insulting him, only to discover that the

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

man is a police

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

. Meanwhile, Berthon and Rene are keeping watch of the Arab man. When René begins showing off his "skills" with nunchucks, one of the sticks detaches and hits Berthon in the head, knocking him out cold. As René tries to resuscitate Berthon, Barjout regains consciousness and decides to investigate what has happened. Upon seeing an apprehended J.P., Barjout threatens the black man at gunpoint. When J.P. tries to tell him that he is a commissioner, Barjout accidentally opens fire and kills J.P. Suddenly, he hears the disembodied voices of Berthon and J.P., and now the Arab man is speaking in René's voice. Barjout awakens, realizing the events were nothing more than a

nightmare A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety, disgust or sadness. The dream may contain situations o ...

he had while waiting in the car. The film ends with the four men beating and presumably killing the helpless Arab man.

References

External links

*
''Cauchemar Blanc'' at Kassovitz's homepage
1991 short films 1991 films French comedy-drama short films French crime comedy films French black-and-white films Films about race and ethnicity French neo-noir films French black comedy films Films based on French comics Films directed by Mathieu Kassovitz 1990s French films {{1990s-France-film-stub