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.
© James Travers 2015
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
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...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.