My Review Of HEADING SOUTH

:wink: FOR SOULTHINKER :arrow:
I finally got a chance to watch HEADING SOUTH so as promised here are some thoughts on the flick.

Two words stick in my mind about this movie and they are desperation & sadness. All the characters including the well-to-do middle aged white woman that come to the island looking for love & romance as well as the young impoverished black men that serve them all seem to be desperate for something. Whether it's an orgasm or just getting money to eat with everybody is looking for something to fullfill them & that's sad in itself.

At times the movie comes off as documentary with each of the main characters namely Brenda, Ellen, & Sue giving their own versions of why they come to Haiti for the company of young black men. Even the resort manager named Albert who seems the most "balanced" person in the movie has a chance to have his say on things on the island.

The story mainly revolves around Legba the young black "player" that has established a relationship with Ellen who comes regularly to Haiti in the summer & Brenda from Savannah, Georgia who is on her second visit. Needless to say they BOTH love Legba but Legba wants to be his own man and sort of chooses to get with Brenda who is sweeter & more vulnerable instead of "staying" with Ellen who is well seasoned on island romance & who knows him better than anyone but wants to "own" him somewhat. And I don't have to tell you that the film is predictable in that this IR LOVE TRIANGLE leads to tradgedy for :smt071 Legba of course :!:

As far as eroticism goes even with middle aged white women it was not what I expected. They showed the young black men naked more than they did the white women much to my disappointment because I've seen Charlotte Rampling's (Ellen) body in a recent flick & she ain't too bad for a woman of her age at all :!:

Also the movie really doesn't go into the political aspects of the oppression of the BABY DOC REGIME that was in power at the time. The plight of the people like Legba & his friends seem to be pretty much as it is in Haiti now...VERY, VERY BLEAK :!: :roll:

All in all it's worth a look on dvd if you can catch it at Blockbuster but be advised that while they do speak SOME ENGLISH in the film, it's mostly in French with english subtitles. :wink: Peace.

PS>HOPEFULLY MY BRO LC WILL FIND IT IN HIS HEART TO FORGIVE ME FOR VIEWING SAID FILM :!: :lol:

 

We have the same impression of this and I, too, felt the sadness and desperation of the characters. I've been to Haiti and quite understand why Legba and the other boys gravitated to these women. When Legba made that young kid buzz off as he was dancing around on the beach, I took it as a signal he didn't want him to enter that "profession".

 

I feel you on that and for a minute there I thought that it reminded him of what had happened with him & Brenda meaning was he the young boy that Brenda robbed of his innocence :?: :shock: Probably not but that's what I tought for a while.

 

When she described her experience with a 15 yr old boy during her first trip (with her husband) I didn't realize it was Legba, but certainly it was...judging by the question she asked him on the first day. I now think it's a combination of both our reasons why he shooed the younger boy away from Brenda. Lil man was learning how to work those women, huh? :lol: I'm still unclear on reasons why the chauffeur/henchman initially chased and shot at Legba. Was it all simply because of the car ride?? That was a loving albeit sad visit with his mother. I believe Legba had a premonition.

I enjoyed the dialogue among the women...with Ellen running the group. It seemed so realistic. The significance of the cover photo repping this movie will always send viewers back to that conversation between Ellen and Legba as they frollicked in the ocean.

 

:idea: I'm not sure either but I believe that Legba's ex was some how in trouble again like he said and that she was involved with THE MAN:smt029 somehow. In other words the chauffeur probably wouldn't have killed Legba unless he was ordered to do so by somebody.

Also I don't think it was his ex that ordered the hit because she probably was the female that was killed with him.

 

Noble D,that is a good review of the flick. I know the documentary Rent A Rasta had something similar as well. As I type this a lot of European and American WW have those relationships with those brothers in the islands of the Caribbean, most are fling while a minority of them are relationships.

 

Hey Soul if you watch Rent A Rasta before I do post your views of it on the board okay? :wink:

PS>Got to apologize as well Soul because for the longest I've been calling you South as in Souththinker... :shock: :!: Sorry about that.

 

That is all right. No offence taken. I will make sure to watch Rent a Rasta.

 

:smt023

 

Funny how this form of prostitution is under reported by all media outlets. I guess as long as no white women are hurt or killed by their island hos they are okay with it. The minute one of these women are raped or killed then those guys will be lined up on those beautiful Jamaican beaches for identification and marched off to jail till the savage killer is found.

I guess that last statement was a bit far. :|

 

:arrow: NO>>>Your last statement was every bit true :!: :?

 

OH GOD.......... :roll: :roll: :roll:

 

>>>FORGIVE US LC...FORGIVE US :!:

 

Heading South

I need to comment on this film, having seen it around 3 weeks ago.

First off, the film is based on writings by Haitian-born, Dany Laferriere who lives in political exile in Canada (PapaDoc era).

The film is based on novels and short stories by Dany Laferrière who has had 7 books translated from French, and is apparently as well known by English as well as French readers. Not including me! So after reading up a little about him I found some very interesting reviews of a book he wrote called "How to Make Love to a Negro". Not a self-help manual but - an ascerbic account of how some black men see white women - not flattering, but honest of the times - circa 1987. And now???? Men... your views on this please :!: :?:

btw: There are some real gems in this savage little book - a friend dug out an old copy after I mentioned seeing the film.

Most of what this author writes IS a scathing satire on black/white sexual relations - ie. the myths and stereotypes.

And how black males view the sexuality of non-black males with white women.

On to the film... I guess most audience 'expectations' is that the film is an inter-racial "love" story about older women flying to Haiti to lose their inhibitions each holiday break to get a 'bit on the side' then fly home.

I went to wanting to see the inter-racial relationships, and also to see Haiti - both are rarely shown with any honesty in film.

The first 20mins of the film made me cringe, coz I thought it was turning into an 'on camera talking head' interview centring on each of the women's sexual encounters/exploitation.

Thankfully the film moved on to its real 'destination' soon after - being primarily about white priviledge (in this case female), sexual tourism/exploitation (by women rather than by men) in a third world country, self-delusion, and female pedophilia!! Can't ever remember seeing that as a topic in any film. :shock:

With the 1970's political turmoil as a backdrop - nicely contrasted with one of the women's shopping trip to the local 'colourful' marketplace - it made the point that tourists - and their dollars - can consume everything on the island, including the people, but somehow feel 'part of the landscape' while being cocooned from any real life 'discomfort' - then just fly home and escape the realities of third world instability and oppression, unlike the people who live there.

This makes it sound like a documentary, LOL, but it's not.

Different viewers in the audience who see this film will take away profoundly different messages - some women will rush to buy a ticket to the caribbean to go get some flesh without guilt, and those of us who've ever been in love with a black man - rather than just lust - will see how western society views and stigmatizes black males, and ultimately only ever reduces them to toys, or creatures of sexual prowess.

And I think this film was made FOR white women. And I believe the point was well made that while the women liked to believe they were 'in love' with the men, they knew nothing about them as people and cared less about their culture, but more about owning them as objects. :roll:

.

 

hey nobledruali ~ got to say I am liking that avatar of yours!! :arrow: Very nice.

 

:smt023 Thank you & I must say that your review of Heading South was much more in depth than mine & I enjoyed it as well :!: Are you a writer or critic of some sorts? Let us know & please post more on the board when you can as will I when I see films that pertain to this website. :wink:

 

Thanks backatcha!
I'm only a film critic on a personal level, lol.

Unfortunately there aren't many IR films - that I know of - to discuss. And rarely are they positive - I hope that trend will change, but I doubt it when Hollywood is run by white guys and every film has to have a white male hero...yawn.

Maybe it's too confronting and/or threatening for some people to see inter-cultural couples - especially BM & WW - living happy, loving, productive lives in long term relationships. That there's never any "happily ever after" for these couples on the screen makes me want to scream!

Can anyone can suggest some films to check out?

 

:idea: That's true & I feel ya' but things are starting to look up in the way of "our" type of IR films. :wink: Mostly in the indie area, not from the big studios necessarily. Right now I'm checking out Manderlay with Danny Glover & Bryce Dallas Howard so I'll give the site a review of it when I'm done.

Also here are some links you might want to check out on some IR films:arrow: http://www.whitewomenblackmen.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4267&highlight=emily
http://www.whitewomenblackmen.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4740&highlight=rent

 

Thanks for the links nobledruali, I'd never heard of either of these films. I'm not sure about Rent A Rasta... 8)

 

I saw that movie "How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired" many times when it was in the theaters. It took so long to be on VHS and may take longer on DVD. I also read the book with the same name and I like the movie better. The author had a cameo of a Hatian man discussing how to pick up WW in the club. Awia, had you seen the movie "Hurricane Smith"? It stars Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed in Rocky) as a rancher going to Oz to find his sister's killer. I recommend it since it is rare to see IR of BM/WW in Oz.