Nothwithstanding General Medrano's rather condescending - and, indeed, ironic - remark, I found Marc Forster's version of Port-au-Prince, Haiti to be 'nicer'/more 'fun' than i'd imagined the place to be prior to November, 2008.
I always knew that Haiti was the poorest jurisdiction in my hemisphere (Americas) and, basically, the s#!^h@le of these time zones but the Bond team made it look like quite a neat spot:
- The hotel has a funky and warm 'vibe' with a beautiful, charming black girl at the 'concierge';
- Camille Wears Prada and drives a very 'now' Ford SomethingOrOther with its artsy tone-on-tone Soleil designs;
- James Bond looks very Steve McQueen as he rides around town on his motorbike;
- Elvis tells mummy just how nice, sunny and beautiful the place is...Wish She Was Here-type of stuff!;
- The port and harbour area feels vibrant and has lots of speed boats and yatchs and boats full of juicy fruits, vegetables and other goodies;
- The water is so clear that you can see the drowned, spread-out geologist staring right back up at Camille and Greene with a look of perverse surprise;
- The hotel where Bond hands off a 'sea-sick' Camille to the attendant is defintely 'high end' and a place you may want to hang out and go water-skiing;
- An old man is enjoying the sunshine while he irons his shirt outdoors;
- Children are smiling as they watch Bond drive by; and
- A dog is having a grand old time in the shanty town with neary a care in the world...
All in all, Haiti - or, rather, Port-au-Prince specifically - seems not too bad a place hang out and party inspite of being a "Fly Spec".
Forster does a wonderful job with all the nice little vignettes.
It takes talent to make the hemisphere's s#!^h@l& seem like a wonderful little paradise, doesn't it?
