The lovers of Cayenne
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The lovers of Cayenne |
| Original title | Les amants du Bagne |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 2004 |
| length | 94 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Thierry Binisti |
| script | Eric Besnard |
| music | Carolin Petit |
| camera | Paco Wiser |
| cut | Jean-Paul Husson |
| occupation | |
| |
The Lovers of Cayenne is a 2004 French television drama directed by Thierry Binisti . The film, made according to historical facts, is a joint production of the TV channels France 2 and ARTE .
action
French journalist Albert Londres travels to South America in 1922 French Guiana to a Paris an article about the conditions in the newspaper penal colony of Bagno in the French overseas territory to write. He wants to educate the people in their homeland about the actual conditions in the colonial penal institutions and thus cause them to be closed. On site, Albert Londres very quickly encountered fierce resistance. Observed suspiciously by the guards and avoided by the prisoners, Londres tried to continue his research . Since he is arriving on behalf of the French government, he must not be denied entry. The commander of the colony is not entirely hostile to him and finally paves the way for him to the prison cells and quarries , where he is allowed to talk to selected prisoners. Most describe their situation as bearable (because they are paid by the Bagno management, as it comes out later).
During his research, he met Claudia Desfeuilles, the wife of the anarchist Camille Desfeuilles: He had been sentenced to 20 years in the Bagno for setting fire to files in a state authority; his wife followed him voluntarily. After the first mistrust, Claudia trusts Albert and tells him about the terrible conditions in the penal colony: abuse, torture and rape are the order of the day. Many of the prisoners are held in the colony even after their release from prison, where they are free, but - with a few exceptions - vegetate in misery. Londres befriends some of them, which saves his life in some tricky situations. He also met Claudia's husband Camille, who gave him the names of reliable prisoners who were not informers. The journalist visits them and learns terrible details from them. The records made for this are stolen from Londre's boarding house; but he has everything saved in his head.
In the meantime, Londres has fallen in love with the pretty and courageous Claudia and admits it to her too; however, she remains loyal to her captive husband. Finally, after long resistance, he was able to persuade her to return to Paris with him to fight for the release of her husband by legal means. The two travel back home and begin a large-scale campaign against the prison camp, supported by Londre's publishers. Meanwhile, Camille has hit a fellow inmate in emotion and has been sentenced to death. However, he and another prisoner manage to escape on a river in the jungle. There a dreaded manhunter lurks in a tree, who is tasked with killing escaping prisoners. He shoots Camille's companion, but to his amazement lets them move on in the escape boat. The reason: Londres had cured his little daughter of mala fever with medication and in return demanded that Camille be spared; the killer is sticking to it now.
In the meantime, the published newspaper articles are causing a great stir in the motherland of the colony. The resentment in the population about the conditions there is growing. Albert Londres then stood before a committee of the French parliament six months later to make a plea for the closure of the French Guiana prison camp; Claudia Desfeuilles in widow's clothes helps him, but she seems surprisingly relaxed. She secretly shows Londres a letter from Camille: He is safe. Four months later, Claudia Camille follows to his new home in Venezuela , where he leads a simple life as a carpenter .
In the credits it is stated that a year later the Bagno was dissolved and in 1938 all French overseas penal colonies. In 1950 the last ex-convicts came home.
Reviews
"The film flips through a dark chapter of French judicial history in a somewhat textbook manner."
Remarks
The location of the penal colony was moved to Cuba for the shooting . The scenes in Parliament were originally filmed in the Palais Bourbon , the seat of the French National Assembly .
Web links
- The Lovers of Cayenne in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Presentation of the film at cinema.de
- Review of the film at telerama.fr (French)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Der Standard : Short review of The Lovers of Cayenne