Toronto

Moloch tropical

 (France - Haiti)

By ROB NELSON

An Arte France presentation of a Velvet Film production, in association with Arte, Velvet Film Group -- Haiti, with the participation of Centre National de la Cinematographie. (International sales: Arte, Paris.) Produced, directed by Raoul Peck. Written by Peck, Jean-Rene Lemoine.
 
With: Zinedine Soualem, Sonia Rolland, Mireille Metellus, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Nicole Dogue, Oris Erhuero, Fardia Roc, Gessica Geneus.
(French, Creole, English dialogue)
 

More audacious in concept than in execution, director Raoul Peck's "Moloch tropical" promises a Haitian take on Alexander Sokurov's Hitler pic "Moloch," but borrows only the image of a fog-enshrouded mountaintop bunker and the story of a monstrous leader's comeuppance. With its fictional Haitian president fumbling his way down in stature, Peck's broadly satiric film is about power, but is not terribly powerful itself, leaving the impression that Peck could've done more with his setup than play it for mild laughs and the occasionally violent situation. Commercial prospects seem far more limited than those for the director's "Lumumba."

Set around 2005, almost entirely in its protagonist's palatial quarters near Port-au-Prince, "Moloch tropical" begins as President Jean de Dieu (Zinedine Soualem), watching TV news reports of torture at Abu Ghraib, steps on broken glass in his bedroom.

Literally and figuratively hobbling, the unpopular leader keeps his own torture victim -- a radio journalist -- in a dungeon, pressing him to give up the name of another commentator critical of the regime. Meanwhile, national delegates, one after another, are canceling attendance at the president's summit meeting to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Haitian independence. Even the man's maidservants are beginning to resist his lewd advances, while, beyond the walls of his estate, civil unrest is brewing.

Peck, a former Haitian minister of culture, reportedly based his story in part on the last days of early 19th-century Haitian ruler Henri-Christophe, though comparisons between Jean de Dieu and former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide -- no doubt problematic for some viewers -- are apparent as well.

Playing a spoiled monarch whose most heroic act is killing a cockroach, Soualem ("JCVD") hams it up with aplomb, appearing in almost every scene of the film. Predicated on the ruler's growing sense of his humiliation, Soualem's turn calls to mind Philip Baker Hall's performance as Nixon in Robert Altman's "Secret Honor" -- another theatrically farcical study of a fallen leader's final hours.

Reasonably entertaining as comedy but largely limp as political commentary, Peck's film is most clearly distinguished by its opulent mise-en-scene and vivid digital videography.

Camera (color, DV), Eric Guichard; editor, Martine Barraque; music, Alexei Aigui; art director, Jean-luc le Floc'h; costume designer, Paule Mangenot; sound, Eric Boisteau, Francois Groult; assistant director, Marco Cravero; casting, Sylvie Brochere. Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Special Presentations), Sept. 12, 2009. Running time: 107 MIN.