Heading South (Vers Le Sud)

The late nineteen seventies was a tumultuous time. The passionate anti-war movement here in the States was winding down, the greed of the eighties has not yet taken hold and the sexual revolution of the sixties and early seventies had become more acceptable and this was a time before AIDS became an issue. Sex was no longer the realm of only the young. Older women, no entering the formerly male oriented world of business, where beginning to acknowledge they still want sex well into and past middle age. Since the beginning of time men have always found a way to scratch their carnal itch, in the seventies women realized that they had the means and opportunity to do like wise. No longer strictly tied to the home front upscale women found they were able to travel and take the same liberties that man have taken for so long.

Ellen (Charlotte Rampling) is a 55 year old professor at Wellesley of French Literature is a on the surface a self assured and demanding woman. Her traditional vacation is to leave the tedium of the academic world behind and go off to the seemingly island paradise of Haiti. There, for a price, she can find her sexual desires met by young black boys. In the jaunt detailed in this film Ellen meets two other women looking for much the same thing as she is; Brenda (Karen Young) and Sue (Louise Portal). Brenda is a bored, stay at home American mom who is tired of keeping up the house. Sue is a Canadian factory worker whose monotonous job has dulled her perception of life. Brenda had met a local boy, Legba (Ménothy Cesar), who was only 15 when they had their first encounter three years previously. She and her husband sort of adopted the boy then but the relationship turned sexual when Brenda and Legba had sex on a secluded beach. As she tells the camera in on of the film’s many monologues, it was there at the age of 45 that she experienced her very first orgasm. The Haitian resort the women go to is managed by Albert (Lys Ambroise), a nice enough sort of man how maintains a strict set of rules. He resents the wealth and privilege that his female clientele flaunt. He also has a conflicted view of the young men that draw these wealthy women to his establishment. He sees himself as better than the hustlers and is offended when Brenda breaks a rule by bringing Legba to dine at Albert’s restaurant. When Brenda returns she finds that the much sought after Legba is not the center of attention for Ellen.

Ellen is fed up with watching the young women in her classes back home use the college as a trolling ground for a potentially successful husband. She is sick and tired of the whole mating ritual and wants the simplicity of just paying for the attention and sex she craves. Brenda is there to escape from the every day routine of her life back home in Savannah, Georgia. There she can only cope by popping one Valium after another. Now she is divorced and is looking to regain that perfect moment on the beach with Legba. Sue is the most balanced of the three women. She manages the factory in Montreal and like the others is looking for something that will make her feel. Like many young people in Haiti Legba did not choose the life he leads. The island may look like a paradise to outsiders but it is actually under the iron fist of Dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. The population is so crushed by poverty and despair that often the only way for a young person of either gender to bring in money is prostitution. We also learn that Albert resents white people due to the influence of his old school grandfather a patriot who fought the American invasion years before. His grandfather saw whites, especially Americans as something beneath contempt. Albert is embarrassed that now he must disgrace his family’s honor by serving these Americans.

French writer-director Laurent Cantet brings a compelling and engaging drama to the screen here. He builds the film with the care and precision of a master film maker. Here, sex is almost a Hitchcock like MacGuffin, something important to the characters but not vital to the audience. Sex may drive the women in this film to some extent but this is not a film about sexual release. It is concerned with loneliness, despair and trying to find some means to cope with the monotony of everyday life. Although the women are superficially looking for a physical relationship they are actually trying to connect with another human being. Even if that person is only intimate for pay at least it is something that invokes something in the three women. Cantet uses four monologues to anchor the film. Each of the three women and Albert break the forth wall and open up to the camera. Many directors try this technique and fail because they allow the monologue to take the audience out of the moment. Here, Cantet builds the emotional heart of the film around these segments setting the stage and providing the necessary exposition. This is also a film of contrasts. Cantet juxtaposes the extremes between America and Haiti with precision. While the women are not wealthy by Stateside standards, merely well off, they are rich when viewed by the desperately poor Haitians. They resent American money especially when it is used to buy sex from the locals but under Baby Doc’s regime they are forced to swallow their pride and take it.

This is a fantastic cast of talented actors. Charlotte Rampling has been one of my favorites; I’m showing my age here, for decades. Like a fine bottle of wine she has only improved with the years. She is beautiful and still smolders from within. Her command of the screen is nothing short of incredible. She plays Ellen as the queen bee but never allows her character to come off as a diva. She gives an emotional depth to her performance that draws the audience in. After all the concept of an older woman paying a teenage boy for sex is repugnant but Rampling is able to let us understand the motivation of Ellen. Fans of the Sopranos will immediately recognize Karen Young as the FBI agent on a mission to bring down the family. That series did not afford this talented actress the chance to shine but this film does. One of the best performances here is surprisingly from a man. Lys Ambroise is great as Albert. While his character is usually reserved and accommodating his dialogue shows a vastly different side. He starts off reserved but as the dialogue continues his hatred and resentment for white Americans begins to bubble out.

Like so many DVD releases from Genius Production most people may never have heard of this film. If you frequent local art houses you may have come across this movie but for most Genius is a life line for the true film lover. Films like this may not have the budget to get the audience it deserves but Genius offers a chance to see something worth while. The technical specifications of the DVD are routine and acceptable. The video is in a crisp, well balanced anamorphic 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The Dolby 5.1 audio is mastered to near perfection. There are no extras on this plain vanilla disc but the film stands strongly on its own. This is a mature look at the lives of very real people. With no special effects this film depends on what matters, talent.

Posted 02/02/07