Laurent Cantet (Time Out, Human Resources) sets his third film in a beach resort in late 70s Haiti, where middle-aged North American women go to be sexually pampered by young black men.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2006
Heading South 2005
Vers le sud
“Laurent Cantet (Time Out, Human Resources) has established himself as one of French cinema’s leading screen realists and analysts of social discontent. His third feature – an investigation of sexual tourism – is arguably his most achieved, and certainly his most challenging. The setting is a beach resort in late 70s Haiti, where middle-aged North American women go to be sexually pampered by young black men… Basing their script on three stories by the Haitian writer Dany Laferrière, Cantet and regular co-writer Robin Campillo sensitively but trenchantly look into a complex nexus of sexual and political issues. Among the cast of this gripping, compact drama, Karen Young is terrific as the vulnerable Brenda, while as the ambivalent, possessive, highly knowing Ellen, Charlotte Rampling rides her current career renaissance with cool, abrasive brilliance.” — Jonathan Romney, London Film Festival
“Far from a glib condemnation of sex tourism… the women bluntly address questions of sex, love, aging, loneliness and desire in the most probing and personal terms.” — Stephen Holden, NY Times