THE MAN BY THE SHORE
(L'HOMME SUR LES QUAIS)
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 8.0 Alternative Scale: ***1/2 out of ****
France, 1993 U.S. Release Date: widely variable (limited) Running Length: 1:45 MPAA Classification: No MPAA Rating (Violence, profanity, mature themes) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Cast: Jennifer Zubar, Toto Bissainthe, Jean-Michel Martial,
Patrick Rameau
Director: Raoul Peck
Producer: Pascal Verroust
Screenplay: Andre Graill and Raoul Peck
Cinematography: Armand Marco
In French with English Subtitles
Every war, revolution, or military action has its own atrocity tales. It doesn't matter whether the perpetrators are Romans, Nazi, Serbs, or some other group -- horror is horror, no matter who commits it. With THE MAN BY THE SHORE, director Raoul Peck has personalized one such tragedy. The strength of this film lies not so much in the actual story, but in the manner of its telling.
The place is Haiti in the 1960s. Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier has just seized control of the country. His army of sinister Tontons Macoutes roam the countryside, doling out terror and brutality with impunity. Eight year old Sarah (Jennifer Zubar) and her two older sisters are victims of Duvalier's reign. Once, her father was a respected Captain in the military, but, when a Macoutes named Janvier (Jean-Michel Martial) came into power in the region, Sarah's father and mother had to flee the country or face execution. The three children went into hiding, first in a convent, then in the attic of their grandmother (Toto Bissainthe), a proud woman who refuses to kowtow to Janvier.
The timeframe switches back and forth between the movie's "present" and events that took place two years previously, when Sarah saw her father and godfather tortured and beaten by Janvier. The torture scene, shown in flashback, is especially disturbing, not so much because it is excessively graphic (gore in movies these days can rarely be considered shocking), but because of the chilling nonchalance with which Janvier dispenses his brand of "justice." And little Sarah, standing on a nearby balcony, sees everything. These are images that never leave her, and their haunting presence impels the film's climax.
THE MAN BY THE SHORE is an examination of two universally- recognized maxims: "power corrupts" and "to live by the sword is to die by it." Janvier is a truly reprehensible character -- a villain without charisma. There is nothing remotely charming about his brand of evil. This isn't the kind of man whom you love to hate; you simply hate him. Power is his, and he regularly abuses it. He takes bribes, commits murders, and rapes little girls. A dead body lies on the floor of his barracks, waiting for someone to take it away.
Janvier's chief adversary is Sarah's grandmother, Camille, who, in his words, "incites subversion". Although she has no real power, her calm, confident manner commands respect, even from someone like Janvier. He wants to capture the children, but is wary of crossing Camille. Even though she poses no tangible physical or political threat, she is nevertheless a formidable enemy because of the strength of her personality, and Sarah looks to her as an impervious shield in a shifting, violent world.
One of the great strengths of THE MAN BY THE SHORE is how it contrasts everyday activities -- adults running stores, children playing games or riding bicycles to the seashore -- with the ever-lurking savageness that threatens to explode without provocation. Peck has drawn from his own childhood memories to make this film, and the results evoke powerful emotions. A small, overlooked film, THE MAN BY THE SHORE deserves to be seen by all who don't shrink from gut-wrenchingly genuine accounts of disturbing events.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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