Coco-the-Flower, Candidate (1979) Poster

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7/10
Dark horse
ulicknormanowen21 June 2022
Reportedly the first movie coming from West Indies..

A right-wing candidate is not sure to win the elections for his opponent has a threatening percentage according to the estimations ;so two technocrats ,dressed up to the nines,come from Paris to give him a good advice: they suggest he get a rival , a naive man ,who would withdraw in his favor in the second ballot.

They choose David Boyeur aka Coco-La-Fleur ,a gentle native,adored by the children who love his tales. But Coco is not the dumb man of straw they expect him to be and he has eyes to see the poverty ,the injustice and the stranglehold France has on his island.

If politics mean to deliver beautiful speeches, then I'm not a politician, says he ,if it means to fight the sufferings of the people, then you can depend on me .Besides, France has a tendency to deny our culture and our creole language (there are subtitles in the film ); when I first went to confession, my first sin was to speak my first language ,said the priest!

In direct contrast with him, the "right" candidate ,a native who has big ambitions with French politicians uses and abuses demagogy :" My roots are here ,my parents are buried here, I'm one of you ,you are my people ". A revealing detail which shows he's a hypocrit: when his wife dons the West Indies dress , he shouts ": "what's that disguise?".

This is actually a political fable, which begins as a joke and ends in tragedy ; it shows the would be idyllic world of the West Indies world in a much less flattering light :gone are the postcards , the beaches at the sunset ,the folklore for tourists ..... If the old generation still believes in superstitions ( the "healers" who do not succeed in their task and demand to be paid all the same) , the young one is more lucid and does not want to be fooled again.
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