Director Ousmane Sembéne’s drama is less an art house film and more of an observational drama that explores how one woman’s idyllic views of French life traps her in to a life of indentured servitude. Actress M’Bissine Thérese Diop is great as Diouana, a young woman stuck in an African village who finds that her options there are limited. She’s not very capable of doing much but servant work and longs to see the world. When she gets a job with a wealthy couple, she’s taken to the French Riviera for the season and asked to live with them to work as their live in nanny. Diouana comes to France expecting luxury, shopping, amazing adventures, and exploration of the beaches.
Sadly, when she begins working she realizes that’s been somewhat trapped and is right back where she started as a woman who is being forced in to servitude by the couple that’s hired her. Rather than roam France, Diouana is stuck in between four walls of a small condo where she cooks and cleans for her demanding Madame and becomes something of a novelty. She’s tasked with doing nothing but feeding them and attending to their every needs, being pushed out in to her own corner and never really being able to experience what’s outside the windows. Diouana finds that misery is even more apparent among the wealthy as her Madame becomes cruel the more Diouana is withdrawn.
Diouana is more a slave within this upper crest abode than she is at home. At least at home she’s granted self respect, despite the limitations. One scene finds her new hires force her to make them an African dinner, which they consume while fawning at her, to which she’s then approached by a dinner guest who gropes and kisses her. When she responds angrily, she’s dismissed by her Madame, rather than embraced as someone whose has had every bit of dignity stripped away before gawking dinner guests. “Black Girl” is a bold statement about slavery, the dead end of poverty, and the idealism of wealth that can attract those bereft of opportunity, and often snare them in a life of tedium and thankless work.
Featured within the packed edition from Criterion from “Black Girl” is “On Ousmane Sembéne,” a nineteen minute interview from 2016 with samba Gadjigo, who discusses Director Ousmane Sembéne, and his relationship with challenging dominant conversation. As well there’s a look at the director’s film work placed against the context of the social political climate of Africa throughout his career. “M’Bissine Thérese Diop on ‘Black Girl’” is a twelve minute interview from 2016 with actress M’Bissine Thérese Diop who talks about working on the film, trying to find work and how it affected a job she wanted. “On Black Girl” is a twenty one minute interview with Manthia Diawara, filmmaker and culturist who talks about cultural significance of “Black Out,” and the way Sembéne believed in equal opportunity for men and women of every race.
“Color Sequence” is a minute long look at the alternate opening for “Black Girl” which featured a lot of color, but instead was replaced with a new black and white prologue to fit with the rest of the film. It’s a wonderful depiction of Diouana’s view of what the French Riviera held for her, but the final opening is still very good. “Prix Jean Vigo” is a two minute archival television interview with director Ousmane Sembéne, who was interviewed shortly after “Black Girl” was released. ‘Borom Sarret’ (1963) is a short film and debut from Sembéne who won the first prize at 1963’s, Tours Film Festival. “On Borom Sarret” is a twelve minute talk with filmmaker and cultural theorist Manthia Diawara who offers insight and ideas about the importance of “Black Girl.” Finally, along with the original trailer, there’s “Sembéne The Making of African Cinema” an exhaustive one hour documentary by Manthia Diawara whose quite stellar work discusses how African Cinema derived from the context of French filmmakers, and how Sembéne was one of the first African filmmakers to emerge from the industry.