Bande De Filles (Girlhood) (2014)

Celine Sciamma’s Girlhood, directed and written by herself. The film takes place through the experience of Marieme, played by Karidja Toure, following a run of dead-end prospects starts a new way of life adapting into sync with a group of three girls.

The main theme that runs through Girlhood is reality. The whole concept of the story originates from Sciamma being inspired by the teenage girls she saw in Paris. And this image is what she wanted to capture not something different, but something that is there in front of our own eyes and turns it into entertainment. To keep this sense of reality within the film the actresses were scouted from the streets. However, there is a slight negative to the film, trying to keep the sense of reality throughout the film it can become boring in parts, as I found myself.

Going into the technical elements of the film, I thought they were very well executed. If anyone watched this film, the main talking point from a cinematic point of view is the ‘Diamonds’ scene. I thought the scene was excellent and really put everything into motion, slowing it down and just let the audience take it all in. it makes you think in the time you have, taking in every detail every emotion was shown, we are connected. They were quite a few scenes that are like this but not so elongated, such as the train scene, where there is no dialogue, let the story is told better, show not tell. The film also shows a side to try and distinguish the role of women in society. This can be related to the scenes that involve men. The two main male characters that influence the story are Marieme’s brother and boyfriend which individually have a totally different effect on the issue and it is this contrast that Marieme faces. An influential part of this theme is the scene where Marieme commands her boyfriend and here the roles are reversed and adds to this overall contrast in role and in a way flips the whole idea upside down.

The editing in the film is first-rate, especially where scenes are of a high tempo such as the dance or fight scenes, which I thought was an exceptional. the quick changes to set the pace whilst still keeping its understanding and image to portray to the audience. The range of shots tells us what we should be focusing on it tells the story of what going bit by bit with every different shot focused on a different aspect.

There must also be recognition given to the art direction in the film to keep up with the image of reality. They haven't gone out making this film creating an image to put on screen, yet build of the image that is already there. The art aspect of the film is very untouched which makes it so well coordinated with every other piece of the film. Moreover, the sound and music in the film are very well chosen as it brings it all together.

Going on to the performance in the film I'm not sure what to think. I have to admit that their performance told the story and got their emotion over. However, there is just a feel to it of a lack of professionalism.

I do not know who I would recommend this film to. The only factor that I can think of is that you are interested what happens in girl gangs in Paris, then you might not find it as boring as I did. Yes, there were some good parts to the film which I enjoyed but overall I was disappointed with the consistency to conserve the audience’s attention.