The acting is first rate, with rampling the films diva, and all give their best. This french and canadian coproduction is set in the 1970s and tells the tale of white women from canada and america who ventured to a resort hotel in haiti to soak up the sun and the attention of young male islanders. Laurent cantets time out third feature, an investigation of sexual tourism, is arguably his most achieved and certainly his most challenging. Karen young at an event for heading south 2005 charlotte rampling at an. Part of the film was to be shot in haiti but only one weeks filming took place because political events prevented the crew from staying longer. Theres a subgenre in french film on colonialism and its consequences as it persists into the present. His two earlier works, analytical in character, are focused on contemporary life in the french workplace. Feb 14, 2007 a fascinating study of desire psychologies. Since heading south plays, after all, like a featurelength a different world episode, the films endingand indeed all of its intermediary setpiecesare evident from the. Fascinating film, one of the best ive seen this year. The film is essentially about sex tourism, though the clients are aging women rather than the middleaged men who would probably be demonized in the standard documentary treatment of the subject. Exploring female desire in a way films rarely do, heading south is a film of sometimes subtle, sometimes blunt metaphors for the interaction of rich and pauperized countries.
The english subtitles that pop up over the french dialogue are not removable. Heading south laurent cantets anticipated followup to time out supplants that pics important issues with unexamined attitudes toward sex and the tropics. At first glance, heading south seems to be a departure for the director of human resources and time out, two of the more critically acclaimed french films in recent years. He is known for his work on films such as the class 2008, heading south 2005, the french zombie film they came back 2004, eastern boys 20, and time out 2001, the latter of which was placed at ninetynine on slant magazines best films of the 2000s. Jul 03, 2006 laurent cantet weaves a dark, disturbing story of hedonism, casual racism and the lethal consequences of selfindulgence in his superb drama heading south.
Its a no frills film, taking place over one day in a small brooklyn apartment while an unseen snowstorm rages outside. Heading south charlotte rampling pictures cbs news. Heading south is a 2005 frenchcanadian drama film directed by laurent cantet and based on three short stories by dany. He is known for his work on films such as the class 2008, heading south 2005, the french zombie film they came back 2004, eastern boys 20, and time out 2001, the latter of which was placed at ninetynine on. But when the french want to support their film industry, which produces serious films of quality, i say, well, maybe this is an exception that is badly needed. Jul 06, 2006 heading south c harlotte ramplings laser stare is turned up to deathray intensity in this very striking but politically naive new film from laurent cantet. Jun 29, 2006 heading south marks a real dropoff from the achievements of cantets first film human resources, which i described as one of the finest movies ever made about the labor movement. On the sun drenched island of haiti in the 70s, foreigners idle away their vacations in the palmfringed paradise of the beach hotels. Jan 25, 2006 ellen is a boston french literature professor, brenda, an unfulfilled wife from savannah, georgia and sue, a sexually frustrated but goodnatured canadian factory worker.
Ellen, a 55yearold american school teacher, travels to politically tumultuous haiti each summer for a bit of fun with the young male locals. On the sun drenched palm fringed paradise island of haiti at the end of the 1970s, brenda, ellen and sue, three north american women, look for. In this second garden of eden they dont care too much about the neighboring poverty nor about baby docs violent dictatorship. Their adventures as seen in their eyes are juxtaposed with class issues and the deteriorating political climate of haiti at the time. His latest film is a melodrama about womens experience, and more literary and emotive in its genesis than intellectual. Vers le sud is a 2005 french canadian drama film directed by laurent cantet and based on three short stories by dany laferriere. The rest of the film was shot in the dominican republic, in neighboring santo domingo. Haut et court, france 3 cinema, les films seville ca. Heading to worcester eworcester entertainment telegram.
But when the french want to support their film industry, which produces serious films of quality, i say. Aug 11, 2017 its a no frills film, taking place over one day in a small brooklyn apartment while an unseen snowstorm rages outside. Actual sex is never shown, yet it is every bit as titilating as if it were. Apr 27, 20 this film by french director laurent cantet human resources, time out is an interesting exploration of the sexual tourism of white mature women of means who travel to some banana republic, haiti in this case, to get laid with strapping, dirt poor young black studs. Laurent cantets heading south shows the ache of blinding lust in a.
The film offers something unusual, a tragic spectacle of normal, recognizable and utterly sympathetic people condemning themselves. Adult swim rampling, rear, finds a handy flotation device. A thread which offers the key to understanding his film within a film, a politicosocial piece hiding beneath the subject of female sexual tourism which fogged the minds of certain commentators, dazzled by the sun of the tropics and the spectacle of naked bodies, to the point where they forgot the heart of heading south. Jun 12, 2006 a s with claire deniss chocolat, laurent cantets heading south probes turbulent, neocolonialist interpersonal dynamics via the romantic relationships between older, wealthy white women and young, subservient black men, here embodied by middleaged sexual tourist femmes and their nubile, darkskinned beaus in volatile 1970s haiti. His next film time out signaled that cantet was no longer interested in making straightforward films about social problems but was. Laurent cantets feature films to date have been modest, thoughtful, and somewhat varied. This film isnt up to that level, little is, but its a serious contribution. A beautiful, unmarried 55yearold teacher of french literature at. Nov 02, 2006 heading south which is in english and french, the main spoken language of haiti hit european film festivals such as venice where it won an award and later the festival circuit in the u. Cantet and robin campillo, heading south is a beautifully written, seamlessly directed film with awardworthy performances.
The island, which depends upon income from tourism, is ruled over by the dictator jeanclaude duvalier, a violent man who spreads fear among the mostly poor residents. Heading south is about unattached white women of sufficient means to enjoy caribbean vacations and indulge their sexual appetites with local men. The women reconnect with him each year, but this time hes going to change their lives. Heading south 2005 three older women ellen charlotte rampling, a university professor from new england. Heading south is nicely crafted film with an intriguing paradise lost story.
Disenchanted with her stagnant career teaching french literature at an upscale womens college in the united states, ellen has now found a new. Heading south, adapted from three short stories by dany laferriere, is set in haiti in the late 1970s. What are the main themes in the movie heading south. Mar 28, 2017 ellen, a 55yearold american school teacher, travels to politically tumultuous haiti each summer for a bit of fun with the young male locals. Sep 08, 2005 heading south laurent cantets anticipated followup to time out supplants that pics important issues with unexamined attitudes toward sex and the tropics.
Heading south laurent cantet heading south is directed by laurent cantet and follows the character of brenda who after three years, returns to the island of haiti in hopes of reuniting with legba, an island local whom she has been fantasising about ever since they first met. It depicts the experiences of three middleaged white women in the late 1970s, traveling to haiti for the purposes of sexual tourism with young men. Vers le sud is a 2005 frenchcanadian drama film directed by laurent cantet and based on three short stories by dany laferriere. Robin campillo born 16 august 1962 is a moroccanborn french screenwriter, editor and film director. A fascinating french film about two cultures in collision and the sexual drives of middleage women vacationing in haiti.
Jul 07, 2006 with a screenplay in french, english and a smattering of creole by mr. Download heading south 2005 full movie hd video dailymotion. Heading south vers le sud 2005 directed by laurent cantet. Multiple characters with their own fully developed backstories are fine in fiction or literature, but generally not in film, where moviegoers expect and want an active central character. Unfortunately, with so many characters and viewpoints, heading south is an object lesson in how not to adapt a novel or short stories into another medium.
Its a great premisemiddleaged female sex tourists in haiti in the late 1970s. Dec 09, 2009 heading south should ring a few more bells since it was also the englishlanguage title of a 2005 feature by laurent cantet, the french director who won the palme dor at cannes for his subsequent. The film centers around two of these women, brenda from the united states and ellen, a british woman teaching french lit at wellesley, as well as legba, the male escort that both women fall in love with. With heading south, cantet tries to stir up the same kind of empathy for three middleaged women on vacation in haiti at. There are several main themes to french director laurent cantets 2005 film heading south, chief among them the vast socioeconomic gulf separating the storys three middleaged female. See why theyre heading to south africa to make new friends, experience different cultures, and tick. Paradise is destroyed for the films players as the true nature of haitian society overshadows the faux bliss that can be had by the women for just a few bucks. Oct 03, 2006 i had extremely high expectations for heading south. Set in haiti in the late 1970s, the film is set in an isolated beach resort populated by american and canadian women of what can charitably be described as a certain age. Ellen is a boston french literature professor, brenda, an unfulfilled wife from. In a number of ways, heading south is a film that reverses expectations and thereby leads you to question the ways in which an issue is understood. But graceless writing and amateurish acting result in something less challenging and more like a french take on how stella got. Heading south by laurent cantet vers le sud, francecanada, 2005, 105 min.
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