Belizaire the Cajun

I rented this movie just because it was about Cajuns and I thought it might be somewhat interesting. Little did I know that it would become one of my all time favorite movies. I kept it for two weeks and watched it 5 times. (This is why I love renting DVDs online... no due date!!! )

This movie is educational, inspirational, adventurous, suspenseful, and very romantic!! I learned about the trials and tribulations the Cajuns had to endure. I was inspired by the loyalty and integrity of the characters. I was excited by the action and intrigued by the mystery. By the end of the movie, I was in love... with Belizaire and the Cajuns.

The movie is actually a love story/ murder mystery; however, it is also about the discrimination and hatred the Cajuns had to endure. It is about their lifestyle, culture, and even gives you a delicious taste of Cajun music. I have a friend that is a Cajun from Houma, Louisiana and she says that it is very authentic and true to the Cajun's history.

Last, but certainly not least, I must mention Belizaire himself. For all you ladies out there.... He is INCREDIBLE!! He is handsome, gentle, romantic, passionate, humorous and plays one heck of an accordion!! I would allow him to be my "healer" anytime!! *grin*

I do not buy many movies because once I have seen them a time or two I usually lose interest. This is one that I will be adding to my collection though. It is not often that you come across a movie of this high quality. AND it is a movie the entire family can watch. My 11 year old daughter watched it with me and liked it too. (although not as much as I did) Let me finish by saying that I STRONGLY recommend this movie to anyone who appreciates an intelligent and entertaining storyline.

BELIZAIRE THE CAJUN is a trickster's tale. Belizaire (Armand Assante) is a healer and community leader who is standing against a displacement of a small Cajun settlement in rural Louisiana that is being led by "good white citizens" like Old Perry (Ernie Vincent), his reluctant son Matthew (Will Patton), and his obnoxious gung-ho vigilante son-in-law, James Willoughby (Stephen McHattie). Matthew Perry is a torn personality, as he has "gone native" with a beautiful Cajun woman Alida Thibodeaux (Gail Youngs) and is the father of her son and a child she is pregnant with. Belizaire nurses an old love for Alida, and this is a source of tension between he and Matthew that the surrounding community is aware of.

In addition to this conflict, there is an underlying problem between Matthew Perry and his brother-in-law Willoughby, who seeks to run the Perry plantation, but is distrusted by both Old Perry and his daughter Rebecca (Nancy Barrett). Beyond these issues, there are the problems engendered for the Cajun settlement by the mischief of petty raiders like Hypolite Leger (Michael Schoeffling), a man whose own family has been displaced by earlier seizures of Cajun land and livestock.

Before the story is over, Matthew Perry is dead, Belizaire winds up charged with his murder, and a lot of wheeling and dealing is done under the auspice of a Machiavellian sheriff (Loulan Pitre) and the parish priest (Allan Durand), all of which is brought to closure during a most amusing hanging scene that marks the climax of the work. With BELIZAIRE THE CAJUN, film maker Glen Pitre gives us a trickster's tale that is steeped in a little known chapter of United States history. And that chapter, which is as "all-American" as the white-led anti-black riots in St. Louis during the First World War and the U.S. led massacre at My Lai in Vietnam, is a semi-fictional chronicle of the harassment of the Arcadian (or Cajun) peoples of Southwest Louisiana in the years before the Civil War. It's a story that bears telling, and Pitre and his cast pull it off with a lot of humor as well as a "no foolin'" tone. The beautiful soundtrack provided by Cajun musicians Beausoleil adds depth and atmosphere. BELIZAIRE THE CAJUN is a "ringer" to be sure.

A rarely seen corner of folk culture receives star billing in this lively slice of backwoods Americana, directed by an alumnus of Robert Redford's Sundance Institute. The background is historically precise: a 19th century clash between expatriate French Canadian settlers and local vigilante ranchers in rural Louisiana, but in the foreground is a rousing, crowd pleasing drama much in the style of many a western. Armand Assante plays the title character, a celebrated Cajun rogue and medicine man hoping to end the repression of his kinfolk by pleading guilty to a murder he didn't commit. This selfless gesture leads him straight to the gallows where, in an unlikely but exciting climax, he manages to outwit the enemy and save the day (not to mention his own neck). It may lack the technical gloss of a bigger budget film, but more than compensates with plenty of rich period detail and flavor. Robert Duvall, credited as a creative consultant, appears in a brief cameo role.

This is a very good film for those who only think that American History is only about American Independence, Civil War and Cowboy's and Indians. There are many more stories to be told about America like the Cajuns, the American/Mexican war, American Indians and not just slavery of African-Americans. I agree that this film is may not be very sophisticated, action packed and the story line is relatively easy to predict. But, all that aside, Asante does a very good job and shows his talent in attempting to play a cultural role that he is not. His attempt to act "Cajun" and attempt to speak the Cajun dialect underlines his acting ability. This film is very underrated only because it is not very well know. There are not enough films about our culture and this film is a good starting point. It is amazing that no other film attempts, since 1986, to tell the story of the persecution of the Cajuns/Creole culture in the South during this time period. I know that this does not compare to the persecution of the African-American slaves during the same period, but it does attempt to show the similarities. And, if you go to the real Cajun Country today(not New Orleans), you will enjoy the brotherhood, hospitality and friendliness that is comparable to none.

I am puzzled by the low rating for this film. It stands as one of my all-time favorite films. Every aspect of it shines, writing, directing, acting, soundtrack. It's a beautiful film about a little-known piece of American history, and it shows the underpinnings of a culture most of us know only as a reference to food. In particular, the soundtrack by Beausoleil is a masterpiece of fitting the cultural music to the mood.

Cultural insights aside, the story is moving and the characters are fully realized individuals. Belizaire in particular is complex, funny, and touching -- a healer who gets by on his wits and truly cares for his people.

Don't let the low-rating here dissuade you. If you get the chance to see the movie see it, and you may find a lifelong favorite, too.