The Man by the Shore (1993)
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The Man by the Shore Movie Review
The Man by the Shore is a 1993 Haitian drama film directed by Raoul Peck and starring Jennifer Zubar. It is a very tough to watch, but important drama.
It is about the traumatizing story of Sarah and her family during the tyrannical regime of François Duvalier. The young girl is hidden in the attic by her granny Camille after her mum and dad flee abroad to escape Haiti’s horrendous regime. Undaunted by harassment from local top-dog macoute Janvier, Camille sets about smuggling her to safety. That is the basic plot behind this very heartbreaking movie about a horrible history of Haiti.
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This Caribbean country is the most populous one, but it was plagued by terrible history, in particular during the dictatorship of Duvalier. The country unfortunately continues to suffer violence and other issues, currently being a failed state. This film gives us a glimpse at what life must be like in such a country while empathizing with our heroines beautifully.
The Man by the Shore is actually rarely violent. The violence mostly happens off screen, and it is this approach that made the film striking. You’d think that having no violence depicted would make it easier for viewers, but the opposite was the case here as the prevailing sense of dread and tragedy remained throughout the film’s runtime, resulting in a very difficult to watch, sad story that is still crucial in making us acquainted with Haitians and their issues.
While the editing is scattershot a bit too much to my liking, the various pieces and chapters that we get to see from Sarah’s life made for a full picture of gentleness and childhood contrasted with brutality and sadness. The pacing was too slow for me, but the movie’s more heartwarming and happier moments were great and necessary as they contrasted so well the harsher scenes.
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The acting is wonderful, the directing is pretty solid and the movie is well characterized, but the score and cinematography left a lot to be desired as it’s not a particularly cinematic movie in spite of its exotic location. But it is a strong history lesson about a rarely depicted region in the world.
The Man by the Shore has overly scattershot editing and it needed stronger technical aspects, but this is still a powerful drama that offers a touching look into the troublesome history of Haiti. The more gentle and childlike moments perfectly contrasted the darker and more brutal scenes, making for a very difficult to watch film that consistently had a prevailing sense of dread and tragedy in it.
My Rating – 4
This is the 8th film in my American Cinema Marathon where I will watch one film from each American country every day. Next up is 🇦🇬.
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