Saint Omer

"Saint Omer" is a powerful and thought-provoking film directed by accomplished documentary filmmaker Alice Diop. The film is based on the true story of Fabienne Kabou, a French-Senegalese woman accused of killing her infant daughter and leaving her to drown on a beach. Diop has created a film that leaves the audience with more questions than answers, but it is this approach that allows the film to resonate with anxieties and the undertow of subterranean influence. The film stars Kayije Kagame as Rama, a novelist and professor who is drawn to attend the trial, and Guslagie Malanga as Laurence, the accused woman in the dock. The film's cinematography by Claire Mathon is stunning, and the performances by the lead actors are outstanding. "Saint Omer" is a film that will stay with you long after you've left the theater.

A multilayered & morally ambiguous legal drama making a valiant attempt to look for humanity in the inhumane, Saint Omer is as empathetic as it is engrossing and offers an arresting insight into motherhood, generational trauma & immigrant experience through the observing eyes of a novelist attending the trial of a mother accused of murdering her 15-month old child.

Co-written & directed by Alice Diop in her feature film debut, the story is borrowed from a real-life court case and follows a woman who begins to interrogate herself after learning about the accused's upbringing, loneliness & pregnancy and its striking similarity to her own life journey. The courtroom proceedings are gripping and each new detail brings its own complexity to the mix.

The film takes an unbiased approach and provides ample breathing space for the defendant to plead her case, even managing to earn our sympathy for her despite her unforgivable act. Also notable is the static, concise camerawork that keeps the unfolding drama at the forefront at all times while convincing performances from its committed cast make sure that the story remains riveting throughout.

Overall, Saint Omer is handled with care, told with compassion and shot with sophistication to deliver a consistently captivating drama that continues to challenge our morality & perception from start to finish. An impressive debut feature for the French documentarian that works best when allowed to simmer for a while, this French courtroom drama isn't an easy sit but is worth your time. Definitely recommended.

This was a fairly interesting courtroom drama about alienation and clashing cultures where certain parts of Coly's life were reflected in that of Rama's. Both women are Senegalese, are in interracial relationships, and have complex relationships with their mothers. Aside from a couple brief scenes here and there and a few quality close up shots, the film doesn't do a whole lot with Rama's connection to Coly. The scenes which occur outside of the courtroom which give us a personal look at how the court hearing is affecting Rama feel rushed through as the film is constantly eager to cut back to the lengthy courtroom sequences. Fortunately, what we get in that regard is quite thought provoking and layered. While watching it, I frequently thought about my experience reading "Native Son". While neither works attempt to apologize for the crimes of the respective characters in each, they instead portray the various factors which led to the crimes taking place and recontexualize the violent criminal trope which is used all too often and instead portray them more as everyday humans. The more Coly opens up throughout the film, the more we begin to understand the various factors which shaped her and led to her actions. The most telling bits for me was when her boyfriend (who's noticeably much older than her) was revealed to have gone through great lengths to hide Coly from his family and ignored her distress when she needed him the most. While understanding the nature of a crime is interesting though, so were the parallels between Coly and Rama. Given how much Rama's character existed on the outside edges of the film and how it kept seeming like we'd finally be given more to latch on to with her, there were some noticeable missed opportunities involved. The film had quite a lot of potential and capitalized on maybe 2/3 of it at best. Still though, the film sat decently well with me upon reflection and thinking about its themes and strategies later on was enjoyable. I think I preferred that over watching the film.

Rama (Kayije Kagame), a Parisian of Senegalese heritage, is a literature professor and novelist. For a writing assignment, she travels to the French municipality of Saint-Omer to observe the infanticide trial of Laurence Coly (Guslagie Malanda), a Senegalese immigrant. (Rama is the on-screen surrogate for director/co-writer Alice Diop who observed the real-life infanticide trial of Fabienne Kabou in 2016.)

Diop is very astute at creating tension in various scenes. This is especially so during an interrogation scene between the judge (Valérie Dréville) and the defendant early in the film. This scene is relatively long but Malanda and Dréville play it so perfectly that it becomes riveting rather than dull.

The character of the defendant is an enigma: at times, one can feel sympathy for her despite so much evidence against her. Her backstory is also fascinating regarding the pressures placed on her as a girl in Senegal whose mother demanded much of her regarding education choices and politeness all with the plans of Laurence having "a better life". Rama's response to the trial is also intriguing as she has trouble digesting noticeable similarities she has with the defendant.

The cast is superb in this film. In addition to Kagame, Malanda, and Dréville, there are also notable performances from Xavier Maly (Laurence's partner), Aurélia Petit (the defense attorney), and Salimata Kamate (Laurence's mother).

There are some loose ends in the film including the relationship between Rama and her mother but overall "Saint Omer" is one of the best courtroom dramas since the Israeli film "Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem" which was released in 2014. - dbamateurcritic

RATING: 9 out of 10

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT: Acting Ensemble.

In a court room in Saint Omer a lady's tried, it's quite bizarre just what she's done, the reasons why, as she's questioned by the beak, the facts and reasons she doth seek, as to why a baby girl was drowned and died. The defendant makes the case that there's a curse, that's been administered by someone who'a averse, to the things that she has done, the way she's lived under the sun, it's intriguing but it's also quite perverse. In the stalls a woman listens with intent, the story of a life, the way that it's been bent, finds too many parallels, in the tale that she sells, and it causes her some confusing lament.

It's a curious piece of filmmaking based on real events, events that are perhaps more relatable to the filmmaker than anyone else, but it's a fascinating watch and might introduce you to the ways of the French legal system, some Greek mythology and/or the conditioning that some people undergo (intentional or otherwise) that can result in the most extreme of outcomes.