VividSimon Simply Perfect

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

mamlukman I watched this for a very particular reason: last year I began researching conversions to Islam among Westerners. I found that 75% are women between 15-24. That seemed a bit odd to me...then I read a French report on Islamic extremists--most were, surprisingly, women converts! Then I began thinking about cults...the Manson Family...mostly women...Branch Davidians....mostly women....and so on. Then there is the phenomenon of the kidnapped girls, some of whom had the freedom to run away but refused to do so (Elizabeth Smart, et al.). While watching "Beatles: Eight Days a Week," which is mainly about the concerts the Beatles gave, it struck me that virtually the entire audience was young girls, all hysterical. Why???? Then, when thinking one day about Obama's mother (married a Kenyan student when she was very young, then married an Indonesian), I stumbled across this sub-culture of women who search out exotic locales for sex tourism. It's not a new phenomenon, but I'm not sure when it began-- "Heading South" is supposedly set in 1979. Maybe the sexual revolution of the 1960s unleashed something???This is a good movie in the sense that it at least tries to take a stab at explaining the women's motivations. A second movie, Dutch, 2016, is "Benzess as Usual," where the son of one of these vacation idylls returns to meet his father. In this case, it's Tunisia. But exactly the same thing is going on--older women using younger, poor men for sex. And, as hinted at in "Headed South" in this case the beach boy is taken to the Netherlands and then Switzerland (by different women!). He marries both, but of course it ends badly. A third movie in this genre is "Paradise Love." In this case, it's German women on the beaches of Mombasa. The location changes, the story is the same. There are also numerous youtube videos on this theme. And then of course there are books like "The White Masai" about a young (!) Swiss woman who marries a Masai--and not an educated, Westernized one, but a native from a village living in a mud hut. It's beyond bizarre.

atlasmb Per Wikipedia, "In 1779, more than 500 Haitian volunteers from Saint-Domingue, Haiti under the command of Comte d'Estaing, fought alongside American colonial troops against the British in the Siege of Savannah, one of the most significant foreign contributions to the American Revolutionary War."In later years, the destinies of the two countries would diverge. Though the United States would endure a tragic civil war, its story would be fairly stable. Haiti would suffer through colonialism, a slave revolution and untold coups.Again per Wikipedia, "In January 1914, British, German and US forces entered Haiti, ostensibly to protect their citizens from civil unrest at the time. In an expression of the Theodore Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, the United States occupied the island in 1915. US Marines were stationed in the country until 1934... Haitian traditionalists, based in rural areas, were highly resistant to American-backed changes, while the urban elites wanted more control. Together they helped gain an end to the occupation in 1934"In the 1970s, "Baby Doc" Duvalier was in power. He and those close to him were alleged to have extracted hundreds of millions of dollars from Haiti's economy. It is during this time that Heading South takes place.The film primarily takes place at a beachfront hotel that caters to tourists. There we meet three women (Brenda, Ellen and Sue) from Canada, Boston and Savannah who consider the location idyllic. It is true that resorts can operate largely separate from their surrounding environments. They can feel like islands, insulated from the usual cares of the world.The hotel serves as the intersection of two cultures. Employees are Haitian, tourists are not. In fact, the three women are there specifically to enjoy what they see as the island's simpler, uninhibited way of life. A young man named Legba represents that lifestyle. Two of them spend their energies and monies on Legba to gain his attentions, sexual and otherwise. The third woman says she is "in love" with Neptune, another native who exchanges favors with her.In the beginning of the film, the viewer is confronted with questions about sexual double standards and women's liberation. Voice-overs and monologues spoken to the camera augment the action, revealing the joys these women experience in their sexual retreat. They are no longer confined by the mores of their home societies. In effect, they operate extra-culturally, unjudged (they think).As the story progresses, we are given glimpses into Legba's life outside the hotel property. We see the surrounding poverty, abuse of power and--through the eyes of an ex-girlfriend--the horrible realities of an oppressive and corrupt regime.In the end, the cultures collide and the illusory existence of the women is brutally exploded. Under tragic circumstances, we see their underlying personalities--dishonest, uncoping, self-conscious and even paranoid. Brenda chooses the only coping mechanism she can perceive--to search for another island.The voice-overs and monologues serve to break up the action of the film. Likewise, forays away from the hotel and some portions that deal with the attitudes and perceptions of the hotel manager disrupt the flow of the film. But that works. It creates a feeling of imbalance that visitors to another culture often experience, reminding us that the story of these three women is not operating in a vacuum.Filmgoers might take different messages from the narrative, which is fine. Questions are raised that the viewer must confront--a real indication that Heading South achieves its purpose.

aplusboy I really don't understand those who find this movie boring or disappointing. The main characters come across as very real. All had needs to be met. The three were able to meet those needs because they had the money to do it. They journey to Haiti as sex tourist seeking out young men to fulfill their desires for orgasms, love and affection. It's really no different than men who go places like Thailand and other such places where sex can be had for a few dollars by those who live in unimaginable poverty. The film also deals with the disdain that the people who live in Haiti have for the sex tourist.The film is well cast. Charlotte Rampling, Karen Young, and Louise Portal well portray the desperation for affection sought by them. Louise Portal as Legba and Lys Ambroise as Albert are excellent as the other side of this perverted fantasy.Highly recommended.

michaeltaddonioa I saw this movie on August 19, 2006. It took me some time to catch on and find a meaning to it, but I did. The ladies in the movie were all obviously past age 40. It was clear that each one of them was tired of the bar scene and hadn't been in a relationship for a period of time. They felt that going to Haiti was an escape from the reality of where they were living, their jobs, and the fact that each of them wasn't in a relationship. The Hatian young men were used to provide them with a man to be with. Ellen admitted to the fact that life for a woman after 40 is different and the bars held nothing for her. Possibly the same can be said for the other women in the movie who were on Haiti for a vacation. What these women failed to realize and possibly didn't want to realize is the fact that there are other alternatives to finding men other than a bar, such as volunteering and hobby and special interest clubs. The same can be said for other women and I am sure for men. Ellen and Brenda had an interest in the same young Hatian man. When he was killed, they had no more purpose to being in Haiti. The movie does show the poverty in Haiti at the time, which still exists.