Heading South

Heading South
Heading South
	Film poster
French	Vers le sud
Directed by	Laurent Cantet
Screenplay by	Robin Campillo; Laurent Cantet
Based on	La Chair du Maître; by Dany Laferrière
Produced by	Simon Arnal; Caroline Benjo
Starring	Charlotte Rampling; Karen Young; Louise Portal; Ménothy Cesar
Cinematography	Pierre Milon
Edited by	Robin Campillo
Distributed by	Haut et Court (France)
Release dates	September 2005 (Venice); 25 January 2006 (France);
Running time	108 minutes
Countries	France; Canada; Belgium
Languages	French; English; Haitian Creole
Budget	€5 million[1]
Box office	$2.4 million[1]

Heading South (French: Vers le sud) is a 2005 French-Canadian-Belgian drama film directed by Laurent Cantet and based on three short stories by Dany Laferrière. It depicts the experiences of three middle-aged white women in the late 1970s, travelling to Haiti for the purposes of sexual tourism with young men. Their adventures (as seen in their eyes) are juxtaposed with class issues and the deteriorating political climate of Haiti at the time of Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier. The women demonstrate different attitudes to the complex situation.[2]

Plot

Ellen (Charlotte Rampling), is a professor of French literature at Wellesley College in Boston who has spent six summers at a Haitian resort where local young men and teenagers providing sexual companionship are easy to find. Among other guests, Brenda (Karen Young), a stay-at-home wife from Savannah, Georgia, and Sue (Louise Portal), a warehouse manager from Montreal, feel lonely and ignored by middle-aged men back at home. They travelled to Haiti to enjoy a holiday of sun, surf, and sex with attractive teenagers to whom they are financially generous; complicating their friendship is the fact that Ellen and Brenda both live for the attention of Legba (Ménothy César). It is only after an episode of violence disrupts their vacation that their eyes are finally opened to the callousness of their hedonistic actions, the suffering of the Haitian people and the political climate.

Cast

Charlotte Rampling as Ellen
Karen Young as Brenda
Louise Portal as Sue
Ménothy César as Legba
Lys Ambroise as Albert
Jackenson Pierre Olmo Diaz as Eddy
Wilfried Paul as Neptune
Michelet Cassis as Charlie
Pierre-Jean Robert as Chico
Jean Delinze Salomon as Jérémy
Kettline Amy as Denise
Daphné Destin as Lossita
Guiteau Nestant as Frank
Michelet Ulysse as Bob

Awards and nominations

Nominated, Golden Lion, 2005 Venice Film Festival
Won, Marcello Mastrioanni Award, 2005 Venice Film Festival
Won, CinemAvvenire (Cinema For Peace) Award, 2005 Venice Film Festival

References

"Vers le sud". JP's Box-Office.
Stephen Holden, “Laurent Cantet’s ‘Heading South’ Shows the Ache of Blinding Lust in a Sexual Paradise Lost,” Movie Review, The New York Times (2006‑07‑07).

External links

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[JP-1] "Vers le sud". JP's Box-Office.

[2] Stephen Holden, “Laurent Cantet’s ‘Heading South’ Shows the Ache of Blinding Lust in a Sexual Paradise Lost,” Movie Review, The New York Times (2006‑07‑07).