Movie #52: Released in 1966, directed by Ousmane Sembéne, 65 minutes. New to me!

LetterBoxd score: 3.5 stars

One nice thing about watching Sight and Sound chronologically is that you can recognize something new when it happens. In this case, that’s the voice over for the internal monologue of Diouana, the kind of character whose perspective has never been the center of one of these movies before. The closest thing we had was Imitation of Life, which treated Annie Johnson’s story seriously – but even so, she was a supporting character. So when we hear from Diouana, it’s a bit thrilling.

The story nicely reflects what I imagine are a lot of themes about Africa’s relationship with Europe. The Europeans, for example, are depicted as being a mix of patronizing, dehumanizing, and clueless. They don’t think of Diouana much, and when they do, they think her as a child or foreign exotica, rather than a person like them who might enjoy seeing a bit of the city. They’re casually cruel. Diouana, meanwhile, is initially enamored with the promise of Europe and curious about its people. She’s blasé about Senegal’s own independence struggle, disrespecting its monuments. Over time, she comes to appreciate Senegal more and is called to take a revolutionary action. In the end, the Europeans realize they’ve done wrong and can’t simply buy off their guilt.

The main issue with the movie, for me, is Diouana’s “revolutionary action” – suicide. I gasped when it happened, but primarily because it didn’t seem inevitable. I thought the whole thing was her building to quitting and going back to Senegal. So my reaction ended up being a bit “wait, really?” I read one review that argued her action reflects the needs of the metaphor about colonialism more than emerging as an organic choice by her character. That feels right to me and is a ding on the movie.

Why would someone think it’s one of the ten greatest movies ever made?

It’s the first feature length Sub-Saharan African film. It has a resonant metaphor about colonialism.

Lastly – film is a visual medium and this one is great to look at. The start white backgrounds are a good contrast to Diouana, who is generally dressed very fashionably (“you’re not going to a party Diouana”).

Next: Au Hasard Balthazar