Directed by:
Claire DenisCinematography:
Robert AlazrakiCast:
Isaach De Bankolé, Giulia Boschi, François Cluzet, Kenneth Cranham, Didier Flamand, Mireille Perrier, Jacques Denis, Jean-Claude Adelin, Hélène Vauquois (more)Plots(1)
The disastrous effects of French colonialism are examined through the paradigm of a young girl's coming of age in French West Africa in Claire Denis' astonishing first film. As France, a woman traveling alone in Cameroon, slips into a dreamy and distant flashback, scenes of a makeshift existence come into focus. France's father, a district governor, and her fragile mother are living a relatively peaceful if somewhat strained existence when a plane carrying a gaggle of French imperialists and their entourage makes an emergency landing near their house. An ex-priest, a white plantation owner and his African concubine, and a newlywed couple are forced to stay with the family. The convergence of this motley crew forces tensions and troubles that were bubbling barely below the surface to silently erupt. Sexual tensions, as well as social and class struggles, explode, with expansive vistas of Cameroon as an astonishing yet innocent backdrop. The heat, the landscape, and the underlying and eroticized tension converge as the noble and austere houseboy, Protee, becomes the focus of France's memories and regrets. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Isaach De Bankolé
Ivory Coast
Best movies:
Night on Earth (1991)
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
Casino Royale (2006)
Giulia Boschi
Italy
Best movies:
Chocolate (1988)
The Sicilian (1987)
Segreti segreti (1985)
François Cluzet
France
Best movies:
The Intouchables (2011)
The French Revolution (1989) (TV movie)
'Round Midnight (1986)
Kenneth Cranham
UK
Best movies:
War and Peace (2016) (series)
Valkyrie (2008)
Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
Didier Flamand
France
Best movies:
Animal (1977)
Wings of Desire (1987)
The Chorus (2004)
Mireille Perrier
France
Best movies:
Toto the Hero (1991)
Nos femmes (2015)
Mauvais Sang (1986)
Jacques Denis
Morocco
Best movies:
I... For Icarus (1979)
Jonah Who Will Be 25 in the Year 2000 (1976)
La Salamandre (1971)
Jean-Claude Adelin
Belgium
Best movies:
Chocolate (1988)
Série noire (1984) (series)
Scene of the Crime (1986)
Hélène Vauquois
Best movies:
Le Silence de la mer (2004) (TV movie)
Chocolate (1988)
Next Time I'll Aim for the Heart (2014)
Emmanuelle Chaulet
Best movies:
Chocolate (1988)
Boyfriends and Girlfriends (1987)
All the Vermeers in New York (1990)
Laurent Arnal
Best movies:
The Count of Monte Cristo (1998) (series)
Queen Margot (1994)
Chocolate (1988)