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[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

(www.hollywood-elsewhere.com, March 2006)


Haiti, Sex, Death

By Jeffrey Wells



Before last Sunday night I thought of Haiti as a hopeless Caribbean
shit-hole, one of the worst places to live in the world because the
government corruption and the politically-motivated beatings and killings
never seem to stop, and because the poverty levels for most of the citizens
are beyond belief.

I still see Haiti as an island most foul, but a knockout documentary called
The Ghost of Cite Soleil, a kind of Cain-and-Abel story that was filmed
just
before, during and after the overthrow of Haitian president Jean Bertrand
Aristide in March 2004, has added a new dimension.

I now see Haiti as less of a Ground Zero for abstract political terror and
more of a place where people on the bottom rung are trying to live and
breathe and create their own kind of life-force energy as a way of waving
away the constant hoverings of doom.

In short, this excellent 88-minute film, directed by Asger Leth (the son of
Danish filmmaker Jorgan Leth), adds recognizable humanity to a culture that
has seemed more lacking in hope and human decency than any other on earth.
I
saw it at the Wilshire Screening Room two days ago, and it's been a kind of
growth experience for me. I feel like I almost "get" Haiti now, and I
haven't stopped telling people about it since.