On the sun-drenched island of Haiti in the 70’s, foreigners idle away their vacations in the palm-fringed paradise of the beach hotels. Brenda, Ellen and Sue, three North American women, converge on the island looking for flirtation, relaxation and respite from their colorless jobs and marriages. They find what they are looking for in Legba an enigmatic local adonis whose beauty and passion has them enthralled. It is this passion that will lead them away from the guilded cage of tourism and will open their eyes to the poverty stricken and dangerous world of Haiti at the end of “Baby Doc” Duvalier’s notorious regime.
Laurent Cantet is a French director, born on June 15, 1961 at Melle (Deux-Sèvres). His parents were schoolteachers in Ardilleux.
On 25 May 2008, he received the Palme d’Or at the Festival de Cannes 2008, for the movie Entre les murs. –Wikipedia
...The filmmaker engages in an artistic colonialism of his own by painting such one dimensional black characters whose *spoilers* deaths even fall flat and are trivialized by the microcosm he's created. I don't get the praise?
Charlotte Rampling was the clear star of the show in this, at times, cringe worthy film. Only her monologue rang even relatively true. The dialogue was stilted and overly melodramatic which greatly contrasted the neo realistic execution (non actors held their own). Direction appeared to be lazy as I constantly allow my eyes to drift to supporting actors at emotionally pivotal moments: they stood around dead eyed...
Even with dialogue that rings false,seems an honest depiction of sex tourism in '70's Haiti. A bit too sympathetic towards the women,who really are showing another type of Imperialism.
The films language is mostly in French due to the French actresses but is set in Haiti. It tells the story of three middle-aged women who frequent a Haiti beach resort to revel in the flirtatious company… read review