Vers le sud (2005)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Laurent Cantet

Writers:

Robin Campillo (writer)
Laurent Cantet (writer)
(more)

Release Date:

25 January 2006 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Three female tourists have their eyes opened while visiting the poverty-stricken and dangerous world of 1980s Haiti.

Plot Keywords:

Haiti | Savannah Georgia | French | Sex | 1970s

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Charlotte Rampling	...	Ellen
Karen Young	...	Brenda
Louise Portal	...	Sue
Ménothy Cesar	...	Legba
Lys Ambroise	...	Albert
Jackenson Pierre Olmo Diaz	...	Eddy
Wilfried Paul	...	Neptune
Anotte Saint Ford	...	Limousine Girl
Marie-Laurence Hérard	...	Airport Woman
Michelet Cassis	...	Charlie
Pierre-Jean Robert	...	Chico
Jean Delinze Salomon	...	Jérémy
Kettline Amy	...	Denise
Daphné Destin	...	Lossita
Guiteau Nestant	...	Frank
Violette Vincent	...	Legba's Mother
Ti Koka	...	Orchestra Member
Wanga Negès	...	Orchestra Member
Anathole Bonhomme	...	Policeman
Michelet Ulysse	...	Bob
Samuel Pierre Jean	...	Legba's Friend
Juckel Remilus	...	Legba's Friend
Gabrielle Lee	...	Irish Tourist
Annette Snyder	...	American Tourist
Genevieve Curt	...	Picnic Tourist
Manolo Jerome	...	Drinks Seller
Keniolt Alparad	...	Barman
Jean-Pierre Francesco	...	Dancer
Natacha Petit	...	Tina
Dieunie Dorvillien	...	Tina's Friend
Joel Medelus	...	Macoute
Jimmy Antoine	...	Macoute
Lorette Blanca	...	Chef
Ariana Joseph	...	Chef
Vanessa Michel	...	Girl in Yellow

Directed by
Laurent Cantet

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Robin Campillo		writer
Laurent Cantet		writer
Dany Laferrière		novel "La chair du maître"
Dany Laferrière		short stories

Produced by
Simon Arnal	....	producer (as Simon Arnal-Szlovak)
Caroline Benjo	....	producer
Jean-François Casamayou	....	associate producer
John Hamilton	....	producer
Barbara Letellier	....	associate producer
Barbara Letellier	....	executive producer
Valerie Lonergan	....	co-producer
David Reckziegel	....	producer
Carole Scotta	....	producer

Cinematography by
Pierre Milon

Film Editing by
Robin Campillo

Casting by
Constance Demontoy

Production Design by
Franckie Diago

Costume Design by
Denis Sperdouklis

Makeup Department
Jennifer Curaba	....	hair stylist
Jennifer Curaba	....	makeup artist
Aleja Flores	....	hair stylist
Aleja Flores	....	makeup artist
Valérie Fuchs	....	hair stylist
Valérie Fuchs	....	makeup artist
Isabel Geraldino	....	hair stylist
Isabel Geraldino	....	makeup artist
Marie-Angèle Protat	....	key hair stylist (as Marie-Angèle Breitner)
Edward St. Hilaire	....	hair stylist
Edward St. Hilaire	....	makeup artist
Manuela Taco	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Jacques Arhex	....	production manager
Christina Crassaris	....	post-production supervisor
Jean Guiraud	....	unit production manager
Victoria Kluge	....	local production manager
Thibault Mattel	....	production general manager
Hélène Ross	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Christelle de Héricourt	....	assistant director (as Christel de Héricourt)
Ralphy Joseph	....	assistant director
Vanessa Mujica	....	second assistant director
Sylvie Peyre	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Jimmy Astwood	....	assistant decorator
Sascha Bastaroli	....	assistant decorator
Jérôme Borras	....	assistant decorator
Alexander Buonpencieri	....	assistant decorator
Sylvia Conde	....	assistant decorator
Ricardo Folch	....	assistant decorator
Leoncio Franco	....	assistant decorator
Luis Tapia Llinas	....	assistant decorator
Yolanda Naranjo	....	assistant decorator

Sound Department
Nicolas Becker	....	foley artist
Valérie Deloof	....	sound editor
Edouard d'Heucqueville	....	sound recordist
Assia Dnednia	....	foley artist (as Assia Zipper)
Jean-Pierre Laforce	....	sound mixer
Claude La Haye	....	sound
Didier Lesage	....	foley recordist
Fred Mays	....	post-synchronization
Michel Monnier	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby (as Michel Monier)
Louis Piche	....	boom operator
Maëla Prémel-Cabic	....	sound recordist
Agnes Ravez	....	sound editor (as Agnès Ravez)
Florian Thiebaux	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Rafael Arias	....	special effects
Kelvin Guzman	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Aurélien Gerbault	....	electrician
Patrick Llopis	....	grip
Pascale Marin	....	assistant camera
Pierre Milon	....	still photographer
Connie Ott	....	assistant camera

Casting Department
Kerry Barden	....	casting: USA
Yssis Castillo	....	extras casting
Carl Lafontant	....	casting: Haiti
Lucie Robitaille	....	casting: Canada
Paul Schnee	....	casting: USA
Michele Soria	....	extras casting
Barbara St-Philippe	....	casting: Canada
Maria Totaro	....	casting: Haiti

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marthe Linah Albrecht	....	costumer
Jean-François Desjardins	....	costumer
Edwin Duran	....	costumer
Beryl Jeancard	....	costumer
Bernadette Schlatter	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Frédéric Casnin	....	color grader
Alain Guarda	....	color grader
Stephanie Leger	....	assistant editor (as Stéphanie Léger)

Music Department
Vivien Mergot	....	additional music recordist
Vivien Mergot	....	music recordist

Other crew
Tony Arnoux	....	press attache
Nicole Lenfant	....	production administrator
Olivier Pasquier	....	production accountant
Karin Reckziegel	....	production accountant: Canada
André-Paul Ricci	....	press attache

Production Companies

• Haut et Court
• France 3 Cinéma (co-production)
• Les Films Séville (co-production)
• Studio Canal (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• TPS Star (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Société de Développement des Entreprises Culturelles (SODEC) (participation)
• Téléfilm Canada (participation)
• Cofinova 1 (participation)
• Soficinéma (participation)
• Programme MEDIA de la Communauté Européenne (funding)
• Procirep (participation)

Distributors

• Haut et Court (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• 1More Film (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Celluloid Dreams (2006) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Cinema Mondo (2007) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Frenetic Films (2006) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Pachamama Cine (2006) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Shadow Distribution (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Soda Pictures (2006) (UK) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (200?) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Cinefil Imagica (2008) (Japan) (TV)
• Red Envelope Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Arane  titles
• Artistic Images  sound editing
• D.C. Audiovisuel  sound equipment
• Eclair  film lab
• Iris  camera equipment provided by
• L'Envol Productions  editing equipment (as L'Envol)
• M.O. Pour Mot  post-synchronization facilities
• TSF  grip equipment
• Thauvin Films  negative cutting

Also Known As:

Heading South (USA)

Runtime:

108 min | France:107 min | Canada:105 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

France | Canada

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Brazil:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | France:U | Netherlands:MG6 | UK:15 | Australia:M | Sweden:7 | USA:Unrated | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-11 | Canada:13+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Dominican Republic

Company:

Haut et Court

Trivia:

Part of the film was to be shot in Haiti but only one week's filming took place because political events prevented the crew from staying longer. The rest of the film was shot in the Dominican Republic, in neighboring Santo Domingo.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Brenda is desperately looking for Legba and she wanders around the village at night, one of the guys she crosses by is wearing a Larry Johnson NBA New York Knicks basketball jacket with number 2. Larry Johnson played for the Knicks in the mid '90s.

Searing-- the most complex, controversial movie of the year!

I just saw the US premier at the American Museum of Moving Image last night [10/20/05]. Cantet and co. interweave three short stories by Haitian writer Dany Laferriere (not yet translated into English from French as of 10/21/05). Though the scope and themes of the stories differ considerably, "Vers Le Sud" is as shattering and masterful as Cantet's previous feature, "Time Out," and should similarly be talked about for years to come.

Cantet and cinematographer Pierre Milon have shot many incredibly complex emotional exchanges without relying on any obvious dialogue. Their confidence that it would cut together and 'play' so well on screen must be partially due to Cantet's having a co-writer who is also the editor (Robin Campillo). The story is told through subtle reactions, gestures and intonations ala "Time Out," but Vers's dialogue seems both more plentiful and more emotionally transparent.

"Vers" also contains more characters, incidents, and a more complex thematic scope than "Time Out." Where "Time" explored a single character's relation to work, pride, and masculinity, "Vers" explores 3 middle-aged white women's sexual and romantic desire for a teenage Haitian, black male prostitute. Cantet explores the central situation's inherent political, racial, sexual, emotional and age-related issues-- often in the same scene.

In doing so, Cantet / LaFerriere necessarily broach a number of taboo subjects: middle age women being openly sexual on screen, and being sexual with teenagers; women paying male prostitutes; white women with black men; women as one discarded, ignored caste, hooking up with another discarded, ignored caste (3rd world men of color); women giving sexual desire the same primacy in their lives as men traditionally have; the world's richest bedding the world's poorest; the willful blindness of the rich towards the suffering of the poor or foreign; American economic imperialism; the predatory nature of consumerist tourism.

In exploring these issues, Vers provokes a sense of moral/political outrage on par with the very angry, very moving "The Constant Gardener." The tourist women of "Vers" turn a willfully blind eye to the dire political / economic situation that drives vulnerable young men into their beds. To watch these women do this is infuriating; their desire becomes repellent, exploitative.

But at the same moment, we are also made to feel how touchingly human these women's needs are-- for love (Brenda), sex (Ellen) and affection (Sue). We experience their loneliness as achingly poignant, even tragic. During the Q&A, one middle-aged woman in the audience referred to the film as pro-feminist in its emotional honesty, and I agree.

The women's relations with their gigolos appear to be emotional two-way streets, albeit with a much wider lane for the Northerners. The women and young men do share affection; and it isn't hard to understand how the women could fool themselves into believing in the possibility of real love blossoming in these tropical, permissive environs.

But when disagreement or insecurity arises with the gigolos, the women's economic superiority gives them the final word. That the same characters in the same scene can simultaneously evoke nausea and tenderness is a testament to the skills of all involved.

The film feels very French in its tasteful restraint -- the sex is never shown -- and in the way it explores its politically charged themes largely through male/female relationships. The film therefore plays entirely as human drama, and never feels sensationalistic, didactic, or titillating.

I had a few *minor* quibbles with this great film. The performances of actors playing Ellen, Albert and Legba were pitch-perfect. But there were moments in Brenda and Sue's scenes when I felt them 'Acting'-- whether this is attributable to lapses in writing, acting, directing or editing is impossible to know. I enjoyed the monologues, delivered into the camera, but I thought they would have felt less artificial if another character had been written into the rooms with them, for the character to address. I also felt it lasted 1 or 2 scenes longer than necessary in the end.

Some have argued that the film should included more of Legba's perspective, but I disagree. Given the sensitivity of the film as a whole, the nationality of the original short story writer (Haitian), and in conveying Legba's emotions in particular, I'm sure that the storytellers made a conscious decision not to include more of Legba's perspective, and the film's structure is the stronger for it.

In fact, the film could only have been created by a group of artists working at the top of their form. Like "Time Out," there will not be a more complex film than Vers Le Sud this year (and I include my other art-house favorites 2046, Head-On, Last Days, Broken Flowers, Brown Bunny, The New World, and yes, Kung Fu Hustle). Here's hoping Vers gets a proper distribution.