- Saint Omer
2022 – Drama/Legal drama – 2h 2m, 3,5 in Scale 1-5
Producer: Alice Diop, Interpretators: Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Salimata Kamate, Valerie Dreville, Thomas de Pourquery, Fatih Sahin,
Alice Diop, one of the most promising new voices of European cinema, presents her first feature film, which was also awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the last Venice Film Festival. This peculiar court drama unfolds in the French town of St. Omer, where young Laurence, an immigrant from Senegal, is on trial for the death of her 15-month-old daughter, who was found drowned somewhere on the northern coast of the country. The trial is attended by Rama, a writer of about the same age, who is shocked by what she hears during the proceedings, while being called upon to make decisions about her own pregnancy.
Directing with a “dry”, almost documentary-like minimalism, which aims to avoid melodrama and easy emotions, Diop manages to captivate the viewer only with the essence of what is presented on the screen. The modern-day “Medea” case isn’t so much about the fair vs. unfair scheme or the revelations that will lead to upheavals; Laurence accepts the charges against her from the outset, but declares her innocence as she believes she had no choice but to kill the child she had with a much older man. Opposite her is the (white) French judge, careful and mild-mannered, highlighting with her questions cultural differences, issues of gender but also of a deeper essence, to which the educated – but at the same time cautious – Laurence answers with surprising clarity.
Of course, at the center of the process, as well as the film as a whole, is motherhood. Using constant flashbacks between Rama, the accused and her mother who is there, plus the reactions of the other women, recorded on their faces while one of the protagonists is speaking, Diop creates a mini-study around perhaps the strongest physical bond – her approach, however, is multifaceted and full of questions, rather than offering any easy answers to the viewer.
Finally, a special mention must be made of the very good performances, first of all the practically unknown Giuslazi Malanda, who interprets the tragic character with admirable measure, in an otherwise very mature film, from which it could perhaps only be missing the somewhat chatty finale.
