Sexual Colonialism

I had avoided "Heading South" because I thought it might be a French version of "How Stella Got Her Groove Back." Boy, was I (fortunately) wrong. Directed by Laurent Cantet, the movie is overtly about three older women who visit Haiti to indulge in young men. What it's really about is loneliness, illusions, poverty, and even colonialism. Charlotte Rampling is superb; for a change, she doesn't play someone who is half-whacked out. Karen Young, who's been in a lot of Mary Harron's films, pulls off a difficult role as a lovelorn tourist. Overall, this is a quiet, engaging film that has an unsuspecting bite.