I saw this at TIFF last night, in the North American premiere. I gather it had been in competition at Venice the week before. Confess I had not heard of the film prior, nor the director and attended as I got two free tickets....
The film takes place in Haiti in the late 70's and is about three older single women visiting a beach resort to take advantage of the sun, sea, sand, and young Haitian men. Essentially sex tourism.
The film explores the relationship of these three women with the younger men, and uses these relationships to explore their relationships with each other and themselves. Each women is looking for something different from their visit, though not all is at appears on the surface.
Charlotte Rampling is radiant as Ellen the oldest of the three, who has a relaxed attitude to the sex, and the almost unspoken transaction with the men. To paraphrase, she always realized that no man would be interested as she aged and always assumed she would pay young men for sex when she got older (believe this is a reference to Simone de Beauvoir). Ellen's focus is on the elegant and charming Legba, as played by newcomer Menothy Cesar (who picked up an award for this performance at Venice last week).
Brenda, as played by Karen Young, is returning to the island for the first time in three years, her life having recently fallen apart . She too has a relationship with Legba from three years prior and is determined, if not obsessed, with renewing it. Ms. Young is given the difficult task of portraying a women at the threshold of middle-age, who is both naive and unwilling to admit to her base desire. She doesn't always pull it off but it is the most difficult role in a film full of challenging performances.
Sue, as played by Louse Pitre a fine French Canadian Actress, is from Montreal and her attitude towards the situation is far more down to earth than her two friends. She understands that things are different "down here", and understands that she would not be treated so well under normal circumstances. No matter, she is determined to enjoy the situation for what it is without complications. In the end she is more of an observer of the conflict that arises between Ellen and Brenda and is meant, I think, to provide a contrast to what is going on behind their masks. She is also the only one who is happy.
The linchpin to the movie is Legba, the young Haitian who is the obsession of both Ellen and Brenda. They believe he is a simple man with simple values, and yet in extended scenes away from the resort, his personal life is revealed to be a nightmare typical of the oppressed poor under Duvalier, further complicated by his relationship with the mistress of a Colonel in Duvalier's army. Cesar is terrific in this role and beautiful to watch.
There is minimal plot in the film withe focus clearly being on character development and exploring the masks people wear, to both protect and fool themselves. Slowly, over the course of the film, Ellen, Brenda and Legba are all revealed to be much different from our initial impressions of them, and more interestingly, their impressions of themselves. The question is whether this is interesting for the the viewer to watch as the film does drag at times. Indeed, I walked out of the film more concerned with where I had parked my car than what I had just watched.
Darn it all, however, when I woke up this morning, this movie was the first thing I thought of and it has haunted me all day. The sad revelations at the end of the film say a lot about human nature and in the end will keep the film in my mind for many weeks to come.
The film takes place in Haiti in the late 70's and is about three older single women visiting a beach resort to take advantage of the sun, sea, sand, and young Haitian men. Essentially sex tourism.
The film explores the relationship of these three women with the younger men, and uses these relationships to explore their relationships with each other and themselves. Each women is looking for something different from their visit, though not all is at appears on the surface.
Charlotte Rampling is radiant as Ellen the oldest of the three, who has a relaxed attitude to the sex, and the almost unspoken transaction with the men. To paraphrase, she always realized that no man would be interested as she aged and always assumed she would pay young men for sex when she got older (believe this is a reference to Simone de Beauvoir). Ellen's focus is on the elegant and charming Legba, as played by newcomer Menothy Cesar (who picked up an award for this performance at Venice last week).
Brenda, as played by Karen Young, is returning to the island for the first time in three years, her life having recently fallen apart . She too has a relationship with Legba from three years prior and is determined, if not obsessed, with renewing it. Ms. Young is given the difficult task of portraying a women at the threshold of middle-age, who is both naive and unwilling to admit to her base desire. She doesn't always pull it off but it is the most difficult role in a film full of challenging performances.
Sue, as played by Louse Pitre a fine French Canadian Actress, is from Montreal and her attitude towards the situation is far more down to earth than her two friends. She understands that things are different "down here", and understands that she would not be treated so well under normal circumstances. No matter, she is determined to enjoy the situation for what it is without complications. In the end she is more of an observer of the conflict that arises between Ellen and Brenda and is meant, I think, to provide a contrast to what is going on behind their masks. She is also the only one who is happy.
The linchpin to the movie is Legba, the young Haitian who is the obsession of both Ellen and Brenda. They believe he is a simple man with simple values, and yet in extended scenes away from the resort, his personal life is revealed to be a nightmare typical of the oppressed poor under Duvalier, further complicated by his relationship with the mistress of a Colonel in Duvalier's army. Cesar is terrific in this role and beautiful to watch.
There is minimal plot in the film withe focus clearly being on character development and exploring the masks people wear, to both protect and fool themselves. Slowly, over the course of the film, Ellen, Brenda and Legba are all revealed to be much different from our initial impressions of them, and more interestingly, their impressions of themselves. The question is whether this is interesting for the the viewer to watch as the film does drag at times. Indeed, I walked out of the film more concerned with where I had parked my car than what I had just watched.
Darn it all, however, when I woke up this morning, this movie was the first thing I thought of and it has haunted me all day. The sad revelations at the end of the film say a lot about human nature and in the end will keep the film in my mind for many weeks to come.