Sugar Cane Alley is a small gem of a picture. Although it may be a bit too leisurely paced for some, this is a small price for a film that has so much else going for it. Alley is a truly charming film, which is amazing considering its subject matter -- the poverty-level lives of sugar cane workers in 1920 Martinique. Generally, a film about this kind of subject will fall into one of several camps --usually either over-sentimentalizing the situation or becoming socially didactic. Alley manages the feat of being warm without sappy and critical without preaching; director/writer Euzhan Palcy prefers instead to present the facts and, for the most part, leave the judgements up to the viewer. It's a difficult balancing act, and she pulls it off with incredible skill. Part of the secret is that, though the protagonist is a child, she neither focuses exclusively on his story nor overlooks the fact that children are as complicated as any adult. The former allows her to paint a portrait of a community, not just an individual; the latter keeps any sticky-sweetness from seeping in. She is helped in this by the impressive performance of Garry Cadenat as the child and the quietly stunning performance of Darling Legitimus as his grandmother. Cinematographer Dominique Chapuis also helps, grafting sepia and pale purple tones onto the film that add to the general warmth. Alley is well worth seeking out.