heidifromoz

No chains, No masters could have been a really interesting and compelling movie but unfortunately left me cold. There was some nice cinematography: local scenery, jungle shots, recreation of the era, etc. Along with well-respected actors but this alone is not sufficient to carry the movie.

The plot drags, the dialogue is often hard to hear, and the minute they try to tell us that African witchcraft will save the day, well, they've lost me. I got about two-thirds of the way through, then gave up.

For those wanting a more in-depth account of life under slavery in the French islands, this will give a fairly sketchy overview.

Acting is good but story a bit hard to fathom. At the end some of us are confused: what? He is really going to stay with her? Anyway, it doesn't really matter. What got me was stuff like the psycho lady supposedly collecting urine from a pregnant visitor who uses her toilet (sorry, bathroom). This would work if the pregnant lady never used the flush function, but we assume that in a civilised society, people would flush afterwards. So unless I've missed something, this is a glaring anomaly.

In the end, I guess I felt the lead characters deserved each other. He is a cheater, right, but she is a manipulating osycho. We can only assume he is happy with this arrangement and, ultimately, will put up with it till he dies. Or she kills him.