Guest post by Vivian Nun Halloran, associate professor of English and American Studies.
In celebrating the visual adaptations of the fictional works of Haitian-born, Quebec-based journalist, novelist, and screenwriter Dany Laferrière through a three-film festival, the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies sets out to deepen our collective appreciation of the imaginative richness and political valences of interamerican cultural productions featuring Caribbean artists living in diaspora.
Though Canadian readers are already familiar with his prolific body of work, U. S. audiences introduced to Dany Laferrière’s artistic oeuvre through these adaptations of his fiction in this series will first notice how the vibrant and complex visual depictions of day to day life in different areas of Haiti counter and correct the by now familiar tragic narrative invoked by news outlets to depict the Caribbean nation primarily as the perennial site of devastation wreaked by natural disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes. Though entirely the work of the cinematographers involved, these paradisiacal images of the Haitian natural beauty are deliberately set in the recent past, the 1970s, a time when the Duvalier regime’s ruthless edicts were enforced by a fearsome paramilitary force, the Ton Ton Macoutes.The relative squalor of the urban scenes would not have been in as great contrast to the seedier side of North American big cities as it is now.
In the combined artistic vision of Laferrière and the directors of Vers le sud (Heading South) and Le goût des jeunes filles (On the Verge of a Fever), sexual tension and the potential for political unrest pose a much more concrete threat to the precarious order of daily life than anything Mother Nature could throw at the characters. Whereas Laferrière’s prose in his short fiction and novels is distinctive in the degree to which it engages in metafiction and introspection—several of his novels have “I” in the title, and Le gout des jeunes filles is described as semi-biographical—the films present a collective vision of Haitians as social agents and active participants in world affairs, even if they use their bodies as the very mediums through which these transactions take place.
Expanded from three of his short stories, Vers le sud (Heading South) depicts the dark side of Western tourism; in the film, the Haitian seashore is a site for sexual commerce and exploitation. Charlotte Rampling’s gripping performance was rightfully recognized at the time of the film’s release, but the clearest hallmarks of Laferrière’s distinctive narrative style are in evidence when the featured characters break the fourth wall and directly address the camera. Regarding the film’s sexual engagements metaphorically, rather than merely literally, allows for a consideration of this text as a commentary on how Haiti is mutually complicit in its exploitation by Western powers, here figured by the mature women willing to pay young Haitian men for sexual favors. There is neither condemnation nor absolution in the depiction; the question of how to change this dynamic remains unanswered, but not less urgent for the lack of resolution.
Whereas there was critical acclaim for the unsparing eye with which filmmakers depicted the transactional nature of desire in Vers le sud (Heading South), the sexual awakening plot line at the heart of Le goût des jeunes filles (On the Verge of a Fever) earned less enthusiasm. The universal nature of this experience, however, in no way diminishes the attention the film itself gives to Laferrière’s written words. Like Vers le sud (Heading South), this film also includes instances where characters break the fourth wall and blocks of text are also depicted on screen. These writerly elements make up for some of the uneven performances.
While audiences might be most tempted to regard the final installment of the series, La dérive douce d’un enfant de Petit-Goâve, as a straight-up, simple documentary detailing Laferrière’s immigration journey from Haiti to Canada, that is far from the case. Though the film follows Mr. Laferrière on his worldly travels and includes plenty of interview footage, its title connects the work with his 1994 collection of poetry, Chronique de la dérive douce (translated into English in 1997 as The Drifting Year.) Thus, even when he is the subject of inquiry, Laferrière’s artistic words shape the image he projects to the world. This is a timely and relevant addition to our public dialogue regarding immigration policies. Seeing this journey should affirm the benefits of world travel and international cooperation.
The Dany Laferrière: An American Journey Film Series at IU Cinema began on February 6 with a screening of Vers Le Sud (Heading South), continues on Sunday February 12 with Le goût des jeunes filles (On the Verge of a Fever) at 3:00 p.m., and culminates with Dany Laferrière’s visit on Thursday February 16. His 3:00 p.m. Jorgensen Guest Filmmaker Lecture will be in French with simultaneous translation. Headsets will be provided. Dany Laferrière is scheduled to be present for the 7:00 p.m. screening that evening of La dérive douce d’un enfant de Petit-Goâve.
Vivian Nun Halloran is associate professor of English and American Studies. She served as Interim Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies in the fall of 2016.