Heading South (Vers Le Sud)

Stars: Charlotte Rampling, Karen Young, Louise Portal, Ménothy César, Lys Amboise

Director: Laurent Cantet

Haiti in the late 1970s. Filthy-rich American widows cram the beaches of Port-au-Prince for sun, sea, sand, tequila sunrises - and sex with the local studs. Matrons and muscleboys mingle freely by the shore, most of the ladies in ignorance of the poverty and oppression that lurks inland.

King of the wild Haitian stallions is Legba (César), a lithe, laconic 18-year-old and the property of queen bee Ellen (Rampling), a sardonic Bostonian just past her 55th birthday.

Then Brenda (Young) appears, three years after her affair with Legba broke her marriage - and convinced she's in love with him.

While bitchy rivalries bristle and Sue (Portal) tries to pour oil on troubled surf, all three women are unaware that Legba is involved with dangerous elements back in the town.

Rampling and Young are achingly good here, but the film, which gives only small insight into the Haiti of the day, drifts on more slowly as it goes. When, towards the end, Ellen tells the see-all hotel manager (Amboise) 'I have to go home, Albert', you may well find youself in agreement.

David Quinlan

France/Canada 2005. UK Distributor: Soda Pictures. Colour.
108 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 1, Swearing 0.

Review date: 06 Jul 2006