Comments on: 923. Rue cases nÃ¨gres / Sugar Cane Alley (1984, Euzhan Palcy)

By: Sweet_Home_Improvement

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By: Louis EA Moyston

Louis EA Moyston — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:11:04 +0000

I saw this movie in New York in the late 1980’s and it reminded me so much of my own past. I saw myself in the oyung man, the scholar and my grandmother in his grandmother. I said same life experience in different places. I admire the film-maker, Ms. palcy, she said in an interview that she make the “splash” in film that bob marley made in Reggae Music-to the world.

I woukld like to make contact with her regarding sharing research on the emergence of Leonard P. Howell and the early Rastafari in Jamaica. I think it will be a fantastic project that only Ms. Palcy can handle.

By: alsolikelife

alsolikelife — Thu, 24 May 2007 18:06:18 +0000

http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/sugarcanealley.php

That’s quite a good and fair review, Jesse! In quite a few ways I think you are more fair to point out the better qualities of the film than I was in my review.

By: jesse

jesse — Thu, 24 May 2007 05:07:42 +0000

I reviewed this for DVD Verdict, but I’m afraid I didn’t really have anything insightful to say about it then, and still don’t. The memory of it is more or less gone, though a favorable impression remains…

By: alsolikelife

alsolikelife — Wed, 23 May 2007 21:30:50 +0000

well i can’t help on that question as at that time I had probably seen all of 4 movies on the TSPDT list: ET, STAR WARS, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and EMPIRE STRIKES BACK! But it’s oddly encouraging to think that film culture today is more appreciative of “slow” movies than 20 years ago!

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 23 May 2007 05:03:36 +0000

Yeah, I agree. I like both those Hou films. As I typed in that review, I wondered whether Palcy’s “placid” style might look a little more interesting today, now that we’ve had to put some effort into appreciating some very quiet filmmakers and assimilating that ethos. I just revisited Burnett’s KILLER OF SHEEP, and thought that today’s film culture does a much better job of setting that film up for us than the culture of 1977 did.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 22 May 2007 18:34:00 +0000

what a pleasant surprise, Dan!

Yeah, contrary to what Vincent Canby had to say, I actually wasn’t as impressed by the acting of the lead boy. The kids as a whole stand around getting by on their innate charms — the adult actors, esp. the grandma and Medouze, are much more compelling.

re: placid visuals and rhythm, at times I was thinking of the Taiwanese new wave films that came out at the same time. What do you think of, say, early Hou films like TIME TO LIVE AND A TIME TO DIE and SUMMER AT GRANDPA’S? They strike me as having a less obvious narrative flow to them and as such feel less constructed and more intuitive in their storytelling.

By: Dan Sallitt

Dan Sallitt — Tue, 22 May 2007 04:51:11 +0000

Here’s one for your review collection: in the L.A. Reader on 11 May 1984, I wrote: “The material, which focuses on the carefree lives of the children who have not yet become laborers, is likable enough, but director Euzhan Palcy doesn’t do much to help it along: the kids retain an actorish exhibitionism despite their plausible dialogue, and the film’s visuals and rhythm are placid to the point of inertia.”