Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tropical Illusion, October 4, 2006
This review is from: Vers Le Sud / Heading South (Original French Version with English Subtitles) (DVD)
Heading South is the story of three women who leave their unfulfilled lives in the north for some sort of paradise in the south. Here is a frequent theme found in movies and books of people leaving their affluent lives and everyday concerns behind, and finding a tropical eden where they discover personal fulfillment. But in this movie at least, this is an awful illusion. The eden is located in Haiti during the murderous Duvalier regime, where human life only counts for those in power. Inside eden, there is all sorts of lesser crimes, namely affluent northerners who use their wealth to exploit the beautiful locals. The hotel manager, who straddles the two worlds, illustrates the complicity between the two when he remarks that "tourists are never murdered."
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jungle Fever, September 18, 2006
This review is from: Vers Le Sud / Heading South (Original French Version with English Subtitles) (DVD)
Set in Haiti during the reign of Baby Doc Duvalier, Laurent Cantet's (the unusual, quietly persuasive "Time Out")"Heading South" ("Vers le Sud") is an erotic fairy-tale in many ways: the "noble," pliant natives in the person of Legba (the excellent Menothy Cesar), rich bored white women looking for a summer vacation of good times, hot beaches, cool drinks and hot sex. The story features three such women: the mercurial, experienced at the hows and whys of Haiti and its beach boys Ellen (Charlotte Rampling), the basically depressed and debauched Brenda (Karen Young) and the wise, knows the scoop, been there, done that and wants to do it again French Canadian, Sue (Louise Portal). All three have been to Haiti previously and all, for better or worse, are back as this film begins. Without a doubt the center of Ellen and Brenda's attention is the charismatic Legba: coal black, wide smile, welcoming, willing and emotionally and physically available at all times for both of them...a neat trick as its hard enough to keep one woman happy, but two? But human beings being human beings things go awry pretty quickly. On the surface it would seem that Legba is being manipulated and used but on closer inspection it is Legba who holds all the cards and he deals them as he sees fit. Legba is in charge and it is Ellen and Brenda who willingly do his bidding. And Menothy Cesar's Legba is more that up to all this attention and scrutiny: his Legba is wise, intelligent, thoughtful, loving, family oriented...not just a piece of meat, in other words, not available to the highest bidder. The young, virile Haitians are the prizes in Cantet's heady, jasmine scented, tropical world and they use their youthful potency and attractiveness as the currency that will translate into a one-way ticket to a life out of their everyday poverty and squalor.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Disposable..., November 25, 2006
This review is from: Vers Le Sud / Heading South (Original French Version with English Subtitles) (DVD)
Might be an alternative title for this movie, as it describes the lot of both the poor Haitians and their 'over the hill' western lovers. While white, older western men go to Thailand to indulge their child sex fantasies, these women seek the attention of the young local black men to compensate for being shunned as an age group in their own countries. When divine women as beautiful as Charlotte and Karen are seen as 'too old' to be sexy and desirable in the west, we have to question the madness of a culture that worships youth and industry-defined beauty. That Karen's character had never had an orgasm (hadn't she ever masturbated?) until her mid forties (with Legba) speaks volumes about how men in general are clueless as to how to appreciate a woman, in and out of bed. It is highly unlikely that Legba and his friends were anything special as lovers either, but the mere fact that they treated these women as though they were beautiful and important, was enough to fulfill them. I have never known a woman who couldn't have a full orgasm within five minutes of lovingly applied oral sex, so how can so many women have missed out on the experience of orgasm? The sad truth is that many men don't apply enough thought and caring in the way they approach lovemaking. A sad movie in many ways, but well worth it for the lush scenery and the powerful performances all around.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
