In Honor of Women's History Month...

In honor of Women's History Month, I wanted to showcase a film analysis of the 1966 film Black Girl written and directed by Ousmane Sembène , starring Mbissine Thérèse Diop. Although the film is written and directed by a man, he uses this image of an African woman to address numerous themes such as the effects of colonialism, racism, and post-colonial identity in Africa and Europe. Many have even considered this film the "first Sub-Saharan African film from an African filmmaker that would receive international attention".

“History teaches us that, in certain circumstances, it is very easy for the foreigner to impose his domination on people. But it also teaches us that, whatever may be the material aspects of this domination, it can be maintained only by the permanent organized repression of the cultural life of the people concerned.”   -Amilcar Cabral, "Return to the Source"

            After viewing the film “Black Girl” I was able to realize that this was the type of movie that is designed to educate people on the existing conditions while at the same time chartering new political and cultural alternatives. It is important to note that knowledge of film history and its theories would truly be incomplete without dealing with Third World cinema, and Ousmane Sembene’s film is a prime example of this type of cinema. “Black Girl” is a perfect example of a visually graphic film that discusses race, poverty, deception, human trafficking, and loss. In addition, there are several other issues, the use of silence as a resistance factor and the postcolonial & colonial representation, that are brought to light regarding the interpretation of one of Sembene’s most common films. 

            The opening sequence of the film introduces the viewer to a ship arriving on a harbor in the South a France, and on the ship is Diouna who has left her home country of Senegal to take up work with this French couple. It should also be noted that although Diouana and her nation have gained independence, she still feels obligated to look to France for employment and a future.  Little to her surprise this is not a joyous escape. Her expectation of coming to France and the expectation of the French couple is one that is incomplete and disjointed. Thus this leads to Diouna becoming a silent and withdrawn. This “silence” leads to a two-fold situation, one of resistance and the other a lack of communication. When she wears a pretty dress and high heels to do housework because of its small pleasure, a rare chance for self-expression and probably her only occasion to wear them, Madame screams at her and tells her to dress more appropriately.  Her life becomes a sad and dreary routine of cooking, cleaning in this small apartment which literally drives her insane. Now what is actually quite interesting is the very thing that gets her the job is the same that brings her to abysmal demise, and that is her silence. The fact that she becomes silent serves as a symbol of post-colonial counter-representation.  Film scholars can see how Sembene uses this film, specifically its main character Diouana to adequately represent an indigenous people by showing how they react to the oppressing colonizers. It is definitely obvious that Sembene makes a very strong argument about how the main character Diouana and the couple she lives with are placed in parallel positions as it relates to colonialism.

Not only does Diouana’s silence serve as a symbol, but the Senegales monkey mask also serves as a central symbol in the film.  It is important to point out that the mask is another key player with a non-speaking role. The mask serves a bridge between Diouana and her employers, which represents the unfortunate as well as an inevitable lack of connection. Just like Diouana, the mask hangs alone on a white wall in the apartment in Antibes, dejected and separated from its companions in the African house. Much like Diouana, it is secluded and out of context. In the process, they wear masks of their colonial roles as the cruel oppressor and the outraged oppressed. In a sense, both of them need the mask: for Diouana it is a piece of home that she gave away as an appreciative equal, happy to work but expecting respect and pay; for Madame, the mask symbolizes her formerly exalted status in Africa, when she was benevolent and powerful white mistress.

Throughout the film, the mask as well as Diouana’s silence takes on several different meanings throughout its journey. The fact that she has no contact and makes no effort to make contact with her family symbolizes disconnect and defeat. Diouana sees no need to communicate with neither her family in Africa nor her employers in France. As a result, there is a permanent separation of her oppressor and her homeland. On the other hand, the masks journey is of one that travels to and from Africa to the colonial bondage of France, before returning back to its home once again. When the Monsieur returns the mask to the Senegalese boy who in fact is the original owner it highlights the division between the colonizer and the formerly colonized. In the end the boy chasing the Monsieur through the street wearing the mask indicates the mask becoming a threatening symbol of a free Africa.

All in all, the main focus of  “Black Girl” is Diouana’s sad odyssey in France  and the emotional core which Diop provides in an intense performance, which is strengthened further by Sembene’s quietly observant camera. Among the diversity stylistic tactics Sembene employs are the following: self-reflexivity, satire, irony, and experimentation with cinematic structural components, such as montage. He blends traditional African “storytelling” devices with experimental film language. He fuses a form of neorealism with a critique of the “real”. 

Here is a clip from this remarkable film...