Stream it:
|
With: Kayije Kagame, Guslagie Malanda, Valérie Dréville, Aurélia Petit, Xavier Maly, Robert Canterella, Salimata Kamate, Thomas de Pourquery
|
Written by: Alice Diop, Amrita David, Marie Ndiaye
|
Directed by: Alice Diop
|
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some thematic elements and brief strong language
|
Language: French, with English subtitles
|
Running Time: 122
|
|
Date: 11/23/2022
|
|
|
|
Self Madea
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
A feature debut by Alice Diop, Saint Omer is a remarkable film about a Parisian writer, Rama (Kayije Kagame), who is doing research for a Medea-inspired book. She travels to Saint-Omer and attends the trial of Laurence Coly (Guslagie Malanda), a woman accused of murdering her own child. But Laurence doesn't really seem to have a reason for doing what she did, which she admits, and even suggests that something supernatural may have had a hand. The film is as static as can be, with no flourishes and not much to look at other than faces in the courtroom. But volumes are conveyed in these looks, layers relating to motherhood, race, gender, class, and so much more. As the trial proceeds, Diop's camera always knows where to go, and our brains begin asking questions that the film is brave enough not to answer.
|
