Mia, a Canadian actress must return to Haiti when her mother is killed. She is soon embroiled in a fight with her sister and authorities over the family inheritance. Framed and imprisoned, s... Read allMia, a Canadian actress must return to Haiti when her mother is killed. She is soon embroiled in a fight with her sister and authorities over the family inheritance. Framed and imprisoned, she will need all her wits to survive and escape.Mia, a Canadian actress must return to Haiti when her mother is killed. She is soon embroiled in a fight with her sister and authorities over the family inheritance. Framed and imprisoned, she will need all her wits to survive and escape.
Marie-Ange Barbancourt
- Mia Lagroue
- (as Marie Ange Barbancourt)
Natacha Noël
- Anna Lagroue
- (as Natacha Noel)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- Trivia-(Press article about this movie): -'Marie Ange Barbancourt depicts the Haiti she knows. The Montrealer is aware 'Pour que plus jamais's grim portrayal of the country will be controversial, but says the film reflects her experiences. Marie Ange Barbancourt's debut feature film, 'Pour que plus jamais' ('Never Again'), is entirely personal. A gruelling and powerful socio-political thriller - "the underside of a postcard," according to the director - the film is set in a modern-day Haiti that is still beset by some of the inequities and corruption associated with the regime of despot "Papa Doc" Duvalier. The film is inspired by actual events experienced by Barbancourt and family members. She not only directs, but is also the film's screenwriter, producer and star. Born in Haiti, Barbancourt moved to Montreal when she was 14. Barbancourt plays Mia, who, while settled comfortably in Montreal, learns of the death of her mother in Haiti. Mia's mother was executed, as was her father years earlier. Their crime: they happened to own a home and land coveted by a family with strong political and military connections. Making matters even more disturbing is that Mia's sister Anna (Natacha Noël) has sided with the family that made the land grab. Mia returns to Haiti to try to settle the matter in court - to no avail. Not only does her plea fall on deaf ears, but she is jailed on trumped-up charges. She is tortured in prison, in an effort to make her forget her claim and to have her leave the country for good. Barbancourt had no difficulty summoning up the emotions of a woman traumatized. Though she didn't go through the same grim ordeal as Mia, she did experience some of the same situations. Barbancourt is best known in Montreal as a broadcast journalist with Radio-Canada and RDI, and as an actress in the Victor-Lévy Beaulieu TV series L'héritage and the Roger Cantin film 'Un cargo pour l'Afrique'. But she had long been determined to make this movie. "I view the film in many ways as a metaphor for life in Haiti as myself and others experienced it," she says. "The reality is that both my father and mother were murdered in Haiti. My father when I was a little girl. And my mother a few years ago. We never found out who did it or why. But they had to deal with others making claims on their home and land." Barbancourt felt compelled to make 'Pour que plus jamais' in order to come to terms with the passing of her parents and to make others aware of the harsh realities of life in Haiti. "These events had been with me for so long and were still haunting me. I know it may be difficult for people to comprehend situations in the country that are not perhaps evident on the surface, but are still much in play there. I think this is a reflection of what still goes on there. It does happen even in 2014 that people in authority take homes of others for no apparent reason." Barbancourt also claims that graphic scenes of brutality depicted in the film are not an exaggeration. "Again, this is based on testimony of those who did experience that." Not surprisingly, she did not shoot the film in Haiti; she assumes authorities would have taken a dim view of the story. Instead, she shot it in the Dominican Republic, which does a credible job of passing for the neighbouring country. "I would have been most concerned for the security of the actors and crew in Haiti, had we gone there," she says. Not to mention her own security. Barbancourt is abundantly aware that 'Pour que plus jamais' will create ripples, both in Haiti and in the Haitian community here. "It is certainly a very controversial subject. Some will have preconceived notions and will not accept it. But others will be on board and find it not only fascinating, but true to their experiences. "Certainly, there has been positive change in Haiti in recent years, but the reality is that there is still much to be cleaned up in the country. Corruption still exists." Regardless of the reaction, Barbancourt has been bitten by the film bug now. She has two projects in development: The Code, a drama she has scripted about a powerful woman who is abducted and taken hostage, and The Secret of Barra, about a single mom whose adopted son rejects her and seeks his birth mother in another part of the world. Both are slated for production next year. As demanding as it was for Barbancourt to assume the lead role as well as to direct 'Pour que plus jamais', she would like to continue with the dual responsibilities in future productions. "I won't lie," she says, "it was really difficult at times to do both, particularly after some of the really dramatic scenes that my Mia character had to endure. Getting in and out of character while trying to direct others is certainly quite the challenge. "I adored my work as a TV journalist and as an actress. But there just wasn't enough work, particularly on the acting side. The point is that there are not a lot of acting roles available to people of colour here. The roles that are available are often little more than stereotypes. So if I can't find good roles, I decided it would be better if I wrote my own." Acting, directing and writing weren't Barbancourt's only challenges for 'Pour que plus jamais'. As producer, she had to raise funds to make this $2-million feature, whose production values could have it passing for a film that cost five times that amount. "That was a lot of work. But through sponsorships, grants and whatever means necessary, I managed to do it. It hasn't dampened my spirits about doing it again for my next films. I love challenges." '. (from 'Montreal Gazette', - May 16, 2014).
Featured review
hilariously awful
The film is dedicated to the memory of the mother of the director, assassinated in 2009. While that was a touching move and while the movie certainly has noble aspirations, this movie, from a purely cinematic point of view is nothing short of awful. Hilariously awful, might I add.
I won't try to sum up the plot of the film like I usually do because I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was about. One minute it's about cultural diversity in Montreal, next it's about a conflict between families in Haiti and eventually it turns into a woman becoming a fugitive from Haitian authorities. These all events all feature the same woman, and is supposedly a continuous telling of her story, but I can barely make the links between the different parts of the story.
Marie-Ange Barbancourt overacts in just about every scene she is in. She is, however, much better than all the supporting actors in this film. One I can think of right now is the judge during a court scene taking place in Haiti whose sentences feel overly written and whose intonation is even worse.
The film features some very funny moments (although they aren't intentional), such as when Marie-Ange's character visits a person and they have small talk for a minute or so before they start yelling at one another insults that I'd frankly never heard of in my life. Other scenes include Olympic medalist Bruny Surin and another actor playing some overly cartoonish cops (with a special gun handshake...yep you read that right)...I mean I can tell that the director wanted to show them as being evil, but there really are no motivations for their actions. Their actions are unexplained and do not make sense, and it's even funnier when the rookie cop starts shooting randomly in the air and his superior tells him that he's learning fast. Another scene involves demonic possession, and my question is this...why? It didn't bring anything to the story, and was never referenced again.
In short, if Quebec ever wanted to respond to Tommy Wiseau's The Room, this would have to be the movie. Studying film in college at the moment of this review, it should be noted that I haven't even talked about the film's technical problems yet. Frames that look pretty weird, sound that just lags from scene to scene (it will either just cut during dialogue or will feel way too low...one scene in particular that comes to mind is a scene in which a washing machine makes more noise than the characters talking. I cannot believe that nobody saw that during post- production)...This film is absolutely terrible.
A Final Word: A friend of mine works in a theater. He states that on Saturday, during the whole day, only one person bought a ticket. That same person got a refund 20 minutes into the movie. Yesterday, the theater was empty except for me and this friend, and another woman, who walked out after 40 minutes. That didn't matter because we didn't have to contain our laughter anymore. If anybody walked by our auditorium, they must've thought we were watching the comedy of the century.
I won't try to sum up the plot of the film like I usually do because I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was about. One minute it's about cultural diversity in Montreal, next it's about a conflict between families in Haiti and eventually it turns into a woman becoming a fugitive from Haitian authorities. These all events all feature the same woman, and is supposedly a continuous telling of her story, but I can barely make the links between the different parts of the story.
Marie-Ange Barbancourt overacts in just about every scene she is in. She is, however, much better than all the supporting actors in this film. One I can think of right now is the judge during a court scene taking place in Haiti whose sentences feel overly written and whose intonation is even worse.
The film features some very funny moments (although they aren't intentional), such as when Marie-Ange's character visits a person and they have small talk for a minute or so before they start yelling at one another insults that I'd frankly never heard of in my life. Other scenes include Olympic medalist Bruny Surin and another actor playing some overly cartoonish cops (with a special gun handshake...yep you read that right)...I mean I can tell that the director wanted to show them as being evil, but there really are no motivations for their actions. Their actions are unexplained and do not make sense, and it's even funnier when the rookie cop starts shooting randomly in the air and his superior tells him that he's learning fast. Another scene involves demonic possession, and my question is this...why? It didn't bring anything to the story, and was never referenced again.
In short, if Quebec ever wanted to respond to Tommy Wiseau's The Room, this would have to be the movie. Studying film in college at the moment of this review, it should be noted that I haven't even talked about the film's technical problems yet. Frames that look pretty weird, sound that just lags from scene to scene (it will either just cut during dialogue or will feel way too low...one scene in particular that comes to mind is a scene in which a washing machine makes more noise than the characters talking. I cannot believe that nobody saw that during post- production)...This film is absolutely terrible.
A Final Word: A friend of mine works in a theater. He states that on Saturday, during the whole day, only one person bought a ticket. That same person got a refund 20 minutes into the movie. Yesterday, the theater was empty except for me and this friend, and another woman, who walked out after 40 minutes. That didn't matter because we didn't have to contain our laughter anymore. If anybody walked by our auditorium, they must've thought we were watching the comedy of the century.
helpful•21
- moviemaniac008
- May 20, 2014
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Never Again
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- CA$2,500,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
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