The weakness of Black Girl is in its slow, journeyman style; one feels that Sembene learned filmmaking by making this film.
Free account saves your watchlist and ratings.
Black Girl
Overview
Eager to find a better life abroad, a Senegalese woman becomes a mere governess to a family in southern France, suffering from discrimination and marginalization.
Director and cast
- Ousmane Sembène Director
- Mbissine Thérèse Diop as Diouana
- Anne-Marie Jelinek as Madame
- Robert Fontaine as Monsieur
- Nar Sene as Diouana's Boyfriend
- Ibrahima Boy as Boy with Mask
- Bernard Delbard as Young Male Guest
- Nicole Donati as Young Female Guest
- Raymond Lemeri as Old Male Guest
- Suzanne Lemeri as Old Female Guest
- Philippe as Couple's Oldest Son
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
Mr. Sembene makes his point neatly and dramatically.
Sembene keeps his metaphors under control, and the result is a message movie with an unusual depth of characterization.
More films
La Cérémonie (1995)
Drama · Thriller · Not Rated
Sophie, a quiet and shy maid working for an upper-class French family, finds a friend in the energetic and uncompromising postmaster Jeanne, who encourages her to stand up against her bourgeois employers.
- Runtime
- 1h 52m
- Director
- Claude Chabrol
- Cast
- Sandrine Bonnaire, Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Pierre Cassel
Two Days, One Night (2014)
Drama · PG-13
Sandra is a young woman who has only one weekend to convince her colleagues they must give up their bonuses in order for her to keep her job — not an easy task in this economy.
- Runtime
- 1h 35m
- Director
- Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne
- Cast
- Marion Cotillard, Fabrizio Rongione, Olivier Gourmet
The Help (2011)
Drama · PG-13
Aibileen Clark is a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny Jackson is an African-American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's struggles with money and her desperate need for jobs; and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is a young white w...
- Runtime
- 2h 26m
- Director
- Tate Taylor
- Cast
- Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard
The Public Woman (1984)
Drama · N/A
An inexperienced young actress is invited to play a role in a film based on Dostoyevsky's 'The Possessed'. The film director, a Czech immigrant in Paris, takes over her life, and in a short time she is unable to draw the line between acting and reality. She winds up playing a real-life role posing as the dead wife of another Czech immi...
- Runtime
- 1h 53m
- Director
- Andrzej Żuławski
- Cast
- Valérie Kaprisky, Francis Huster, Lambert Wilson
The House by the Sea (2017)
Drama · N/A
By a little bay near Marseille lies a picturesque villa owned by an old man. His three children have gathered by his side for his last days. It’s time for them to weigh up what they have inherited of their father’s ideals and the community spirit he created in this magical place. The arrival, at a nearby cove, of a group of boat people...
- Runtime
- 1h 47m
- Cast
- Ariane Ascaride, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Gérard Meylan
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Crime · Drama · Thriller · R
Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as...
- Runtime
- 1h 59m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn
Philadelphia (1993)
Drama · PG-13
Two lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops, their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.
- Runtime
- 2h 6m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Mystery · Thriller · R
Years after his squad was ambushed during the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco finds himself having terrible nightmares. He begins to doubt that his fellow squad-mate Sergeant Raymond Shaw, now a vice-presidential candidate, is the hero he remembers him being. As Marco's doubts deepen, Shaw's political power grows, and, when Marco finds a mys...
- Runtime
- 2h 10m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber
Stop Making Sense (1984)
Documentary · Music · PG
A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.
- Runtime
- 1h 28m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison
Something Wild (1986)
Comedy · Crime · Romance · R
A free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-con husband shows up.
- Runtime
- 1h 54m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, Ray Liotta



Comments
Talk about the film with other members