Port-au-Prince, dimanche 4 janvier (2015)
Directed by François Marthouret

Film Review

Haitian writer Lyonel Trouillot's 2004 novel Bicentenaire is capably adapted for cinema by actor-turned director François Marthouret in this low budget but nonetheless illuminating production.  Port-au-Prince, dimanche 4 janvier is Marthouret's first film for the big screen, although he previously made a number of films for French television.  As an actor, Marthouret is best known to French viewers for playing Véronique Genest's ex-husband in the popular crime series Julie Lescot in the 1990s; he is also remembered as the father in François Ozon's Sitcom (1998), the one who has the misfortune of turning into a gigantic rat.  It's quite a career move from giant rat to documenter of the Haitian coup d'état of 2004, but Marthouret pulls off this remarkable feat and delivers a film which, whilst visibly constrained by its modest resources, has an authentic reportage feel about it.

For the two lead roles, namely the chalk-and-cheese brothers Little Joe and Lucien, Marthouret cast two non-professionals, James Star Pierre and Emmanuel Vilsaint, and their lack of acting experience proves to be an asset, bringing a heightened realism (approaching documentary verisimilitude) to the film.  Archive footage is effectively spliced into the narrative, to give a sense of the scale and importance of the events taking place in Haiti during the celebrations marking the two hundredth anniversary of the former French colony gaining independence.  The film is far from perfect - some poor casting choices, overly intrusive music and uneven pacing weaken its dramatic power - but it is faithful both to the source novel and the historic events it recounts, making it an interesting and poignant reflection on a period of immense turbulence in Haiti's recent history.

On the script front, the main weakness is that the two central characters - two brothers who end up on opposite sides of the conflict - are too simplistically drawn to be entirely convincing.  They are in fact little more than broad-brush archetypes, one an idealistic student committed to the idea of democracy, the other an unscrupulous petty criminal who is out only for what he can get.  There's no room for ambiguity or character progression; the two brothers behave exactly as we expect them to and their ultimate fate is apparent as soon as they make clear which side they are on.  Such weak characterisation is a symptom of the generally manichean tone of the film, with the demarcation between right and wrong made too boldly to be credible.  It's a flaw that makes the film less absorbing and convincing than it might otherwise have been, but Port-au-Prince, dimanche 4 janvier is still worth watching because of the valuable insights it offers on a crucial event in Haiti's recent past.

Film Synopsis

Haïti, 4th January 2004.  Celebrations are under way to mark the bicentenary of the declaration of the country's independence.  For months prior to this event, there have been public demonstrations against the dictatorship of President Aristide.  Lucien and his younger brother, Little Joe, have nothing in common.  The former is a philosophy student convinced that the demonstrations will lead the country towards democracy; the latter is a crook recruited by the Chimères, gangsters loyal to the present régime, to thwart the students' efforts.  The day has come which will determine the fate of the two brothers...