Thursday 14th September 2006

The Picture House

Dir: Laurent Cantet 108 mins 2005
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.This was a time when tourism was booming but life was cheap. 'Welcome to Paradise', says Ellen to newcomer Brenda , but it's clear that this is anything but paradise. Outside the hotel's artificial bubble, the Duvalier regime is in power, and it isn’t long before Legba , the young man favoured by both Ellen and Benda faces dire problems. The script is based on three stories by the Haitian writer Dany Laferrière. Charlotte Rampling shines as the ambivalent, possessive, highly knowing Ellen.