剧情介绍
It’swinterinFrance,thelightisdull,thecamerapansoverasnowywastelandandentersamassiveconstructionofsteelandglassthatisopenatthesides,stoppinginfrontofthereproductionofawoodenship.Thestructurethatjutsoutovertheupperdeckisinscribedwiththewords‘Liberté,Égalité,Fraternité’.
MedHondousesthistrackingshottoestablishthesettingofhisfeaturefilmWestIndiesoulesnègresmarronsdelaliberté(1979),whileopeningupamuchlargerspacetotheimaginationatthesametime.Theshipturnsouttobeamostversatilestageforagrotesquenarrativeofcolonialism,slaveryandthestruggleforindependenceintheFrenchWestIndies.MedHondoexploreshismanythemesinthislimitedspace,whetheritbetheMiddlePassage,marronage,abolitionorthehistoryoflabourmigrationtoFrance.Thefilmmarriesanaestheticsofthriftwiththeflamboyanceofamusical;differenttimeperiodsglideintooneotheraselegantlyasthegeographicalpointsofreference;andonlyoccasionallydotheactors’visibleexhalations,analienationeffectcreatedbythecold,remindusthatWestIndieswasnotshotonMartinique.
