Who are they? [Raoul Peck] works primarily with an ensemble made up of [Sarah]'s family and members of the infamous TonTon Macoute. It's these men operating outside civilian and military law, who imbue "The Man By The Shore" with its thick taste of dread and fear. For it quickly becomes obvious that they can threaten, maim, even kill anyone at anytime for the least of slights. Janvier (Jean Michel Martial), the chief of the Macoutes here, wields unbridled power, making him one of the most fearsome screen villians in recent times. "The Man By The shore" combines the terror of the Duvalier regime and Haiti's natural beauty in a gripping story. Audiences may leave questioning whether it's better to remember or to forget!
Today Haiti is looked at as a struggling island filled with poverty and conflict. It truly gets labeled with the "Third World" stereotype. Actually, the history of Haiti is rich and shows that it was actually the home of some of the greatest heroes in the fight to end western hemisphere slavery. Haiti caused the break up of the worst form of slavery in the history of the world. This island with the largest Black population in the Caribbean has immense economic challenges. This adventure taught the Haitian survivors a great lesson: The European military machines are vulnerable and can be defeated with proper planning. When they returned to Haiti, they spread that information amongst the slave populace and the planning began. In 1791, the historical slave revolt in Haiti began. It lasted until 1804. The rebellions caused Britain to give up on the slave trade in 1807 and the rest of Europe started their withdrawal of this evil practice. Many white French settlers left Louisiana and Haiti and moved to what are now Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Many of the free Haitians moved to New Orleans and those ties still exist. Haiti was the catalyst in the abolishment of slavery. Thank you my brother Haitians.
