MovieChat Forums > La noire de... (1966) Discussion > Deep on Many Levels

Deep on Many Levels

posted 18 years ago by Devans00
6 replies | jump to latest

This movie was deep on different dynamics. Hardly any words in the whole movie, but it got a lot of messages across. Some that I remember off the top of my head.

- Colonizers and subjugated. The French people acted like the Senegalese were put on earth to be their servants. The Senegal economic conditions were limited so many of the local people had participate in the exploitative system.

- Materialistic vs. non-materialistic. The French seemed to think that throwing money at people would solve everything. That's what would make them happy, so they assumed it would be the same for the Senegalese

- Literate vs. illiterate. Diouana and her mother were dependent on other people to say words to each other in letters. They couldn't talk to each other directly. The French husband had the arrogance to try to write Diouana's letter for her, even though he barely said 5 words to her and hardly knew her.

- Language gap. Apparently there was many miscommunication between Diouana and the French wife. There was such big misunderstandings between what both expected when they went to France vs. what happened.

- French refusing to recognize the humanity of the Senelgalese. The French couple seemed genuinely suprised that Diouana had a boyfriend. As if a Senegalese young woman wouldn't have the same dreams of life as they would.

- Capitalist vs worker. The goal of a capitalist is to get the maximum labor out of a worker for the least pay. Not only did they try to rip Diouana off from paying her regular wages and days off but they also prevented her from eating. What the Hell? Did they want to give her absolutely nothing? Was she supposed to pay them?

- The French wife had the nerve to keep calling Diouana lazy. Exactly how is doing all the cooking, serving, cleaning and laundry (by hand no less) lazy? All with no wages or days off. What else was Diouana supposed to do to be a good worker? From what I could see, the French wife only yelled at everyone and complained.

- Even though the French wife was oppressing Diouana, she was given the short end of the stick by her husband. The husband was less than useless around the house, plus he stuck his nose into affairs without actually being helpful.

The movie was an interesting look into a world I wish could say didn't exist anymore. But you still hear stories of women similar to Diouana from the Philipines working in the Middle East. Or from South or Central America working in the US. I guess as long as there is the opportunity to be exploitative, some people will take it.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ManicMuse 15 years ago

i think her invisibility is what haunted me the most. that, and a new idea on what slavery can mean. paying a person should not justify treating them as property. i think of all those people who are seen only as their brand of domestic service, who are expected to devote their lives to serve their "masters", and it is justified because they earn a few bucks and that is what should matter most if you are poor.

the op made a lot of good points.

i'm glad i watched this film.

"WHO'S ON TOP & WHO'S ON BOTTOM NOW, huh?! WHO'S ON TOP & WHO'S ON BOTTOM NOW!"

[–] PoppyTransfusion 8 years ago

a new idea on what slavery can mean. paying a person should not justify treating them as property

This is a very good point and is what exists in capitalist society. The idea that because me/you/one pays a person seems to create a false sense of entitlement for the payee over the person being paid. It's sickening and prevalent.

I'm scared of the middle place between light and nowhere

[–] Devans00 14 years ago

dances_with_films
Anyway, nice review. To pick one scene among many, I liked the beach scene depicting carefree vacationers sunning themselves and reading newspapers. It highlights Diouana's exploitation and her invisibility. The beach, rather than being a place of freedom and tranquility, is for Diouana a dead end.

Good point about the beach scene. That originally went over my head.

Until factory jobs were more available in the late 1800s, early 1900s, many people around the world could expect the fate of Diouana. There's a great PBS TV series called Upstairs, Downstairs that basically covers the transition period from the old Master-Servant relationships to the new industrial world. It gets more into details about the relationships between people on both sides of the equation. It's set in English and all the people are British. I don't think they had any immigrants from foreign countries.

No two persons ever watch the same movie.

[–] marbleann 14 years ago

I agree with the OP. But the scary part about the movie is that the husband actually was not as bad a the wife. There was a funny exchange. She is complaining about how lazy Diouanna was. Her husband gets up from his chair after doing absolutely nothing and says "I going to take a nap".

I have to add on to what the OP is saying. I had mentioned in another post how this happens on Long Island where I use to live. The irony is a lot of the people who have these servants and abuse them are foreigners. The case I mentioned the couple was from India and they employed two women and treated them like slaves. I understand the country the two women came from was a place that India evidently had some problems with. I believe they actually thought they had the right to treat the women like slaves and felt they were doing nothing wrong. People need to understand most of these folks really believe they are right about their treatment of their workers and have no sense of being wrong.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 8 years ago

Even though the French wife was oppressing Diouana, she was given the short end of the stick by her husband. The husband was less than useless around the house, plus he stuck his nose into affairs without actually being helpful.

Interesting play on one oppressed (woman) oppressing another (black).

The movie was an interesting look into a world I wish could say didn't exist anymore.

Disagree. I think it is very well alive and more pernicious than ever.

I'm scared of the middle place between light and nowhere