On the Verge of a Fever

On the Verge of a Fever (French: Le Goût des jeunes filles) is a 2004 Canadian drama film, directed by John L'Ecuyer.[1] An adaptation of Dany Laferrière's novel Dining with the Dictator (Le Goût des jeunes filles), the film is set in Haiti over the weekend in 1971 when François Duvalier died and was succeeded as president of Haiti by his son Jean-Claude Duvalier. It centres on Fanfan (Lansana Kourouma), a teenage boy who is hiding from the Tonton Macoute after being drawn into trouble by his friend Gégé (Urly Darly), and who loses his virginity to Miki (Koumba Ball), the young woman sheltering him at her home.[2] Fanfan is a character who frequently recurs in Laferrière's work,[3] including the concurrent film How to Conquer America in One Night (Comment conquérir l'Amérique en une nuit), which was Laferrière's own directorial debut.[4]

On the Verge of a Fever
FrenchLe Goût des jeunes filles
Directed byJohn L'Ecuyer
Written byDany Laferrière
Based onDining with the Dictator (Le Goût des jeunes filles) by Dany Laferrière
Produced byAnne-Marie Gélinas
Andrew Noble
StarringLansana Kourouma
Koumba Ball
CinematographyJean-Pierre St-Louis
Edited byAube Foglia
Music byNed Bouhalassa
Luck Mervil
Production
company
Productions Jeux d'Ombres
Distributed byChristal Films
Release date
  • September 15, 2004 (2004-09-15) (TIFF)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageFrench

The film's cast also includes Mireille Metellus, Daphnée Desravines, Néhémie Dumay, Maïta Lavoie and Maka Kotto, as well as cameo appearances by Dan Bigras, Luck Mervil and Laferrière himself in a brief introductory narration.

Although set in Haiti, the film was shot primarily in Guadeloupe due to the political instability of Haiti at the time.[5]

The film premiered at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival.[6]

It was a Black Reel Award nominee for Outstanding Independent Film at the Black Reel Awards of 2006.

References
  1. "Filmmaker is thriving on Montreal's vibes". Montreal Gazette, January 22, 2005.
  2. "Growing up fast". Montreal Gazette, January 21, 2005.
  3. "Dany Laferrière: a life in books". The Guardian, February 1, 2013.
  4. "Comment conquérir l’Amérique en une nuit – Film de Dany Laferrière". Films du Québec, December 28, 2008.
  5. Swaralipi Nandi and Esha Chatterjee, Spectacles of Blood: A Study of Masculinity and Violence in Postcolonial Films. Zubaan Books, 2014. ISBN 9789383074136 Chapter 7, "Becoming a Gwo Nèg in 1970s Haiti: Dany Laferrière's Coming-of-Age Film Le Goût des jeunes filles (On the Verge of Fever)".
  6. "African cinema's moment in the sun; Continent better represented at fest than ever: Pioneering movie in Zulu among noteworthy flicks". Toronto Star, September 10, 2004.


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