Sugar Cane Alley

A bright youth, living in grinding poverty in a shanty town among the cane fields of Martinique, has the chance to escape, thanks to a heroic grandmother and teachers who admire and foster his potential. While the audience sympathises with Jose's desire to get out of Black Shack Alley, it is treated to the richness of the Alley's life, to Medouze's sonorous tales of life in Afrique, to the antics of the village children, and to the kindness of its adults. It adds up to an affirmation of life that makes this an enjoyable film. If I have reservations, they are that every issue is dragged in for an airing, however brief and undeveloped (bright girl having to leave school; 'Mulatto' son of French planter unacknowledged; exploitation of workers), and that big events, e.g., deaths, are contrived to occur predictably, and at the 'right' time. Some of the direction, e.g., of the children's scenes, is a bit clunky. These things having been said, this film is a pleasant experience, and one that I recommend.