TROPIC MOON

A dark tale of French Equatorial Africa, of lust and crime and deterioration, suggestively -- susceptibly conveyed. It is the story of Timar, a young, inexperienced, shy Frenchman sent down to a small coastal village on a deadhead proposition, and who becomes infatuated with Adele, the wanton wife of the local public house owner. Adele's murder of a black boy, the death of her husband, her enigmatic elusive conduct, heighten his unease, distrust, but do not lessen his attraction to her. She induces him into a business partnership, takes him up the river where he almost dies of fever, saves her neck by pinning the black boy's murder on a native, until eventually Timar turns on her and is shipped out of Africa. Perverse, macabre, but adept atmospheric conditioning makes this effective.