Dichotomy In Ousmane Sembene's 'Black Girl'

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"I've got a job with white folks!"

For Ousmane Sembene, one of Africa’s most respected film directors. We are given a film that shows the abuses of power and the corruptions of what the French government wants to keep hidden. Black Girl focuses on the transition from the Western World and the oppression within Third World Countries. To draw attention to the Third World/ Western dichotomy, Sembene contribute a considerable amount to the development of politics within Black Girl through our main protagonist Diouana.
The challenges she faces as many transitions are made with her moving into living as a maid in France. She soon begins to feel trapped and left without any hope, as her maid duties soon become feeling like she is being made into the house slave. Diouna cannot accurately express herself in French; therefore her thoughts are presented to the audience as intermittent voice-overs. We wouldn’t perceive of it to be natural that she would think in a foreign language, however it is obvious that Sembene is trying to show how much influence the French new wave has made impact on the Western culture. Diouana decides to take matters into her own hands and due to her emotions of being trapped she feels as if the only way to come to peace is to end her life within her environment of slave-like captivity. The situation that she is faced with ultimately demonstrate Diouana's internal conflict is not merely just a racial struggle but how it also transcends into the realms of economics and class that troubles her more than her life in Africa.
This seems to illustrate Sembene’s personal storytelling about the patriotism and its effects on the post- colonial African. As the story of Black Girl seems to be nothing more than a tragedy of...

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... film is quiet and thoughtful, yet it takes a forceful approach in shaping its point and view about the presence of war. Director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun nevertheless turns on a transformation by a father stuck in a war-torn Chad. The overall arch of the story demonstrates how generations can shape and reshape each other, even during the hardships of war. A Screaming Man simply states how war is always closer to those surrounding it, even when if they are not affected by it first hand. Overall, it seems that Haroun is trying to state just this for the audience. As families already struggle to survive and that not only is living a difficulty in life, but the sacrifices of those who live in the city must face. Not only does it feel like he is trying to pinpoint Chad directly when it comes to this, but instead war in general and those who have to deal with the outcome.

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