Heading South
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Heading South ("Vers Le Sud") is a 2005 film by director Laurent Cantet, whose previous work includes Time Out and Human Resources. Based on three short stories by Dany Laferrière, it depicts the experiences of three middle-aged white women in the late 1970s, traveling to Haiti for the purposes of sexual tourism with young black men. The carefree nature of their adventures (as seen in their eyes) is juxtaposed with the deteriorating political climate of Haiti at the time.
Plot
Ellen, a Boston French literature professor, Brenda, a stay-at-home wife from Savannah, Georgia, and Sue, a factory worker, feel lonely and ignored by men in their middle age. They travel to Haiti to enjoy a holiday of sun, surf, and sex with attractive local teenagers (for a small payment, of course).
They enjoy their carnal adventures, wilfully ignoring the local poverty and increasingly repressive dictatorship of Haitian leader Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier which drives these vulnerable young men to them.
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