St Omer

[Steveandkerry Riddell]

Hello all

A few people were wondering about the real life outcome of the case used as the backdrop for last nights film. Fabienne Kabou was sentanced to 20 years and ordered to undertake psychological assessment. The prosecution wanted life and no assessment so I guess the jury accepted that there was a degree of ambiguity in the case. I probably thought it was better than the generally lukewarm response it received from us but by no means perfect.

Heres Peter Bradshaws review who thought otherwise.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/feb/02/saint-omer-review-alice-diop#:~:text=The%20severity%20and%20poise%20of,make%20it%20an%20extraordinary%20experience.

[Alex Banwell]

I do feel like part of my issue was due to how tired I was, and feel a little guilty that my reaction was probably clouded by that.

I think another thing that might have been an issue for me was probably how much was lost in translation. Dominic touched on it but I suspect there was quite a bit around the sort of language used and the way people spoke and held themselves that showed more of the social, economic, cultural and racial issues surrounding the case. 

I am all for not being spoon fed the 'issues' but I was left feeling like I almost had to imagine what they must have been like in my head with the only obvious bit being the lecturer's testimony (why would a black woman want to study...) I suspect there was a lot more stuff that would have been more obvious to a French person.

Anyway, I might well revisit this in the comfort of my home where I can pause it for a coffee and when I'm not as tired. Enough people have genuinely loved the film for me to question my initial reaction.

Thanks for the excellent intro and discussion Steve.

Alex