Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: a Caesarized film inspired by a dramatic news item.
12 Angry Men, Philadelphia, The Goldman Trial, An Intimate Conviction, or even Anatomy of a Fall, all these films have one thing in common: their camera invites itself into court.
But there is another one that we talk about less often, and which is nevertheless just as important: Saint Omer, the first feature film by Alice Diop, very closely inspired by a news story which took place in November 2013.
Released in cinemas in 2022, this film tells the story of Rama, a young writer, who goes to the trial of Laurence Coly, at the Saint-Omer assize court, in Pas-de-Calais. Objective of his visit? Find inspiration for writing your next novel.
The suspect of Senegalese origin (like Rama) is accused of having killed her fifteen-month-old daughter by abandoning her on a beach during the rising tide. But in this court, Laurence Coly’s words send Rama back to her own past and her future condition as a mother.
In the footsteps of Anatomy of a Fall
For his first fiction on the big screen (after several documentaries), Alice Diop was inspired by the story of Fabienne Kabou, accused of infanticide on her child. And by drawing her story from that of this murderous mother, the director delivers a powerful two-hour closed session at the heart of the legal process.
Here, several themes collide. It’s about education, pressure, ambition and humiliation, against a backdrop of ordinary racism. In the context of a criminal court, the director treats these many sensitive subjects with infinite delicacy.
Actresses Kayije Kagame (Rama), Guslagie Malanda (Laurence Coly), and Aurélia Petit (Maître Vaudenay) burn the screen in their roles as civilian, accused and lawyer (who delivers a poignant final argument).
And after having conquered the French press, with a rating of 4.2 out of 5, the film Saint Omer was awarded the César for Best First Work, as well as the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Proof that it fully deserves its place among the best trial films…
Tonight on Arte at 8:55 p.m.
