Arnold Antonin's documentary on the life and work of Georges Corvington is endearing and nostalgic but avoids romanticizing Port-au-Prince's history. Beginning with the life of Georges Corvington, his education, and his vast library that was lost in the 2010 earthquake that nearly killed him, the rest of the film goes over his magisterial history of Port-au-Prince from the colonial era to Magloire in the republished CIDIHCA volumes of Port-au-Prince au cours de ans. Along the way, we see interviews with Georges Corvington and others who knew him, such as Michel Hector and Frankétienne discussing how Corvington was committed to the city of Port-au-Prince's history and how the city was his only love (Corvington never married). The greatest thing about this documentary was the plethora of photographs, images, and video clips of Port-au-Prince in the various stages of its history, including some delightful Haitian mereng (Lamothe's "La Dangereuse" can be heard at various times) and jazz music.
Port-au-Prince's early history, its history of fires and political upheaval, the rapid urban growth, the rise of more architecturally beautiful public buildings in various phases, the impact of US Occupation (the rise of more public administration buildings, particularly under Borno's presidency), the colonial period (which was the origin of building most of the city in wood from the 18th century to the 20th century), the 19th century (which did feature monuments, such as the National Cathedral and various presidential palaces), etc. are all covered in the film (including development in Port-au-Prince of tramways, more monumental architecture, the Bicentennial Celebration, the Belle Époque years of the 1950s). The film challenges notions that no Haitian government has ever invested in or tried to change Haiti, and looking at Haiti's urban history is clearly something that merits further investigation beyond Port-au-Prince. Indeed, it would be excellent to find more urban historians who can carry on Corvington's legacy for different Haitian cities, such as Les Cayes (where the Corvington family resided before Port-au-Prince), Jacmel, and Gonaives.
Overall, this short documentary, under an hour in length, is a great introduction to the works of Corvington. Although his vast library was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake that left Corvington under rubble, his legacy can and should live on in additional scholarly work on Haiti's urban history. The astounding visuals also complement quite well the interviews with Corvington and those who knew him. My only complaint is the shortness of the film, which means less detail, and the lack of special features on the DVD to explore some of the sources for the visuals, music, and Corvington's works. Nontheless, the numerous details and tantalizing facts about Port-au-Prince (such as its first film projection, back in 1896, the development of the Bel-Air neighborhood and the rise of new residential areas, such as Turgeau and Bois Verna). Furthermore, Corvington's impressive work on Port-au-Prince's history was all the more so because he did not travel abroad to research, but collected his sources in Haiti and used his library to write instead of relying on foreign archives.
Corvington was indeed one of the finest Haitian historians to have ever lived. I had a chance to meet people who worked with him and it seems he possessed one of the most remarkable work and intellectual ethic they had seen; he simply would not write down a single word he could not justify with solid evidence. I understand that he was also well-lectured on many other topics outside of Haitian history. I personally read different sections of his volumes published with the CIDIHCA and previous editors. It was all very detailed and gave a nice feel of what Port-au-Prince must have been like at various times. I think his academic rigor will continue to be missed, especially in Haiti.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am very impressed by his work and intellectual ethic, as you say. It's a shame his library was never fully recovered. Unfortunately, I haven't read any of his work, but hope to get my hands on it sometime in the not too distant future. The documentary serves as a nice introduction to the man and his work, so I am definitely curious to learn more about Port-au-Prince's history.
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