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Absolutely Fantastic

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The acting in this movie is really good.

This is a film ostensibly about a young woman's quest to revisit the land of her childhood experiences. It deals more however with the complex relationship between her, her mother and the black house boy who is used at various times as a servant; a substitute father and substitute man of the house when her father is away doing administrative governmental work in other areas of the country.As a child, the girl had difficulty making relationships with her peers and there is a restrained attraction between the mother, Aimee and Proteé, the house boy. Suppose a sexual relationship had developed between Aimee and Proteé, what then? The simmering tension is removed to be replaced by what? Clearly Aimee is not going to kick her husband out and set up house with Proteé and where would that leave him? To remain a servant and be picked up and put down, as the 'Lady Boss' saw fit. He would be in a worse position than before but without his dignity. In a situation where a hierarchy exists then sometimes it is better to not have what you want. The obvious answer is to get rid of the hierarchy which is what the end of colonialism was in theory moving towards but this also removes the family's reason for being there anyway. A telling scene not mentioned by others is when Aimee makes a subtle play for Proteé whilst he is drawing the curtains at the end of the day. Without saying a single word he brings her out of her reverie and leaves her in no doubt as to the nature of their relationship. Because she leads an unfulfilled existence she accuses her husband of being 'too nice' when in fact he has done nothing wrong.The film ends with the clear conclusion that whether they are subjugated or not, westerners are definitely the black mans burden and it doesn't matter on the colour of your skin; whether theirs is the only culture you have ever known or how much you empathize with them, if you are not black and born there you are never going to be one of them. A distinct example of inverse multiculturalism.In the final scene where the airport baggage handlers get caught in a tropical storm, it would have been nice if they had actually got wet. But, hey, life is not always about getting what you want.

I am astounded at the positive reviews for this thoroughly uninspiring film.Often with foreign films I skip over reviews that complain about slow pace and seeming "absence of action" as many of the best international films do not live up to the Western Hollywood model of cinematic storytelling.I enjoy the frequent artfulness and lack of cliché in the foreign film arena. I enjoy that many foreign films don't tie things up in a neat palatable little bow.That said, this particular film offered no redemptive value for the time I wasted watching it. No meaningful character development, no engaging story arc, no way to get emotionally involved with any of the characters on screen. Synopsis: A bunch of emotionally immature uptight prejudiced colonials mistreat their slaves, and a little girl gets hurt by her only friend when the "house-boy" finally gets fed up and takes his abuse out on her. While the above paragraph is poignant and dramatic, this movie will bore you while playing out the scenario. I was so unengaged that it took three sittings to finish it, and I wouldn't have even done that were it not for the positive ratings. Unless you have an academic interest in the period I strongly suggest steering clear of this one.

To whom it may concern:After having read a few reviews and just seen the film, these are my thoughts. I agree that the film portrays and plays off of the white/black dynamic, but to be more precise, I think that it reinforces the exotification of black and African men by white women. Protee is definitely a stoic character in the movie, but to say that that makes the movie good is not necessarily justification enough for me. Rather, I was more concerned than anything that at the end of the movie I was so moved by a production that in retrospect perpetuates stereotypes about the black/white dynamic and does little, if anything, to empower any of the black characters. Basically, I feel like it only romanticizes the the relationship of Aimee and Protee thereby giving implicit acceptance to the power dynamic inherent between the two of them. As I said earlier, however, it did "move me." But as I earlier, it was the production; the acting, rather than the story itself, that moved me, and to confuse these two is what concerned me most. I'm sure there are a lot of "well-meaning" people out there who liked this movie, and it does have good acting, but all I have to say is switch the characters around-make Aimee the character in a position of less power and give that power to Protee and all of a sudden it's going to be a much less acceptable, interesting, and realistic to a lot of people. It's a good story, apparently semi-autobiographical, but skews the race picture much to the satisfaction of the privileged folks who are paying to see it.

My 3rd-year French classes always enjoyed this film very much. In a multi-cultural, inner-city high school, the film provided many subjects for discussion (in French in class, but I know a lot of discussion went on in English after class). The most obvious is the relationship between Protée and Aimée compared to the one between Protée and France.I always mentioned that I felt this film had one of the "sexiest" scenes I had ever seen in a movie. One year, a 17-year-old African-American shouted, "Yes!" when he figured out the scene: the one where Protée is helping Aimée lace up her evening dress, all the while both are examining the reflection of the other in the mirror. Directors use the "mirror technique" when then want to focus on the inner conflict on the part of one or more character in a scene: this is a perfect example of the technique, and it is "sexy".Most students had trouble understanding the end of the film. One suggested that one theme of the movie was "Africanism", and that no matter how much one loved Africa or Africans, one cannot "become" African (like the driver tried to do): one must BE African.