The Political Mysteries of Saint Omer’s Female Characters

Director Alice Diop identified the analysis of complex Black women as political acts. Long medium shots allowed the audience to process difficult, authentic emotions.

On January 9, the magnificent Soho House New York screened Saint Omer (2022) in a cozy, dimly-lit room. A Q&A Session and indulgent reception followed the screening.

The film won Venice International Film’s Silver Lion and Lion of the Future prizes. Also, the film won at France’s Prix Louis Delluc. Amrita Daivd, Marie Ndiaye, and Diop wrote the award-winning film. Claire Manthon produced introspective cinematography. Srab Films produced and Super distributed the media. The Hollywood Reporter’s Lovia Gyarkye called the movie “spellbinding.”

Diop’s Saint Omer depicted the successful Parisian journalist Rama. She traveled to Saint Omer to attend Laurence Coly’s trial. Rama hopes to write a book about this case. Laurence allegedly murdered her child, but she cannot or will not state her motivations. Instead, she claims that a spell affected her. Rama sees connections to her own life. The project unraveled as Rama dealt with childhood trauma.

At the film’s opening, Rama ate in her familial Paris home. The film cuts to wide-shots of a silent, older woman. After the meal, the woman leaves. At this point, the viewer did not know this woman’s identity. Rama’s partner, Adrian, suggested that the two women talk. Brilliantly, Diop did not reveal why Rama refuses. Later in the film, the viewer saw Laurence’s similar storyline. It informs Rama’s own pain.

Previously residing in Senegal, Laurence attended school in Paris. Due to a familial death, she took a leave of absence. Laurence did not go back to college until she met Luc Dumonent. The pair fell in love and moved in together. According to her, Luc never introduced Laurence to his family. After delivering his baby, Laurence never takes her outside. In her perplexing testimony, Laurence discussed how she drowned the baby. She gave hypocritical answers as to why.

In a poignant shot, Rama vomited in the hotel toilet. The film silently established her pregnancy. In an over-the-shoulder shot, she looked into the mirror. It offers a moment of retrospection. Then, the movie cut to a close-up of Laurence’s face. She angrily gazed out at the courtroom. Though later in the film, this brilliant transition establishes the women’s connections through motherhood and trauma.

In a court scene, the two women make eye contact. Laurence smiles at Rama, who looks away. In the next scene, Rama cried in a fetal position on a hotel bed. The film cuts to flashbacks of a silent mother, who sat on a colorful bedspread. She wore bantu braids in her hair. A younger Rama joins her. The silence that ensued spoke so many words. The scene highlights Rama’s fear. She tells Adrian that she doesn’t think she will become a “good” mother.

After this scene, the viewer understood the silent, older woman’s role: Rama’s mother. The two do not speak, despite Adrian’s suggestions. Here, one woman indirectly revealed another’s radically-different truth. It remains unclear why Rama and her mother do not speak. The film cuts to a close-up of the mother. Her only line is “so tired, so tired.” This could reveal her dissatisfaction with family or race relations in Paris.

The aforementioned scenes revealed the film’s purpose: political and feminist acts. Rama grew up in Paris while Laurence experienced youth in Senegal. Both identify as Black women. Diop based the film on Fabienne Kobou’s real-life trial. Diop attended the court hearings, where Kobou delivered a mysterious testimony. Through Diop’s film, viewers must listen to a similar, strange story.

In the Q&A, Diop mentioned the film’s narrative qualities. She chose not to direct a documentary because the real-life trial already occurred. A fictionalized account allowed her to emphasize Laurence’s unclarity and mystery. Laurence and Luc’s vastly different testimonies fascinated me. Laurence discusses neglect, while Luc mentions her jealousy. Diop said, “We ended up inventing scenes as a result of an extremely difficult and personal exchange.”

Guslagie Malanda (Laurence Coly) discussed her on-set experiences. Moderator Lovia Gyarkye asked how she prepared for her role. Malanda said that she took meditation classes. On set, she better controlled her breath. During long shots, she stared into the camera. Poetically, she added, “Breathing is life.”