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