And So Angels Die and Black Girl

Both films And So Angels Die and Black Girl share similarities regarding the concept of Senegal’s independence from France. Throughout both films, it is apparent that although Senegal is independent, the main characters and their families are still not able to live as freely as they had hoped. In Black Girl, the men and women in Dakar live in a poor area where they still have to carry water from the well back to their homes. Diouna needs to find work in order to support her family and she finds work as a nanny and maid in France. She has to leave her life in Dakar and adapt to the new lifestyle she finds in France with the wealthy white family. Even when her employers are in Dakar, it is apparent that they are better off than she is because she sits transfixed by the water sprinkler in the yard. She represents a diasporic figure because she must adapt to the new cultures of this wealthy family.

            Likewise, in And So Angels Die, Mory left Senegal to live in France with what appeared to be his wife and children. He also had to adapt to the French lifestyle though he maintained some of his Senegalese culture by wearing more traditional style clothing. When he returns to Senegal, he once again has to adapt to that way of life. He still holds onto aspects of the French culture he adopted when he brings home shoes, clothes, and other gifts for friends and family.

            Personally, I did not know that Senegal was under French rule, so I was confused as to why there were white people speaking French in Black Girl because I thought the film was about Senegal. I would say that I am relatively under-informed about African culture and filmmaking. As a result, when I do see a film about African culture, like either of the two mentioned above, I often want to take those depictions at face value because I have nothing else to compare them to. However, I understand that these films are merely a representation of a director’s view or idea, so I know that not everything is the truth. Elizabeth Mermin makes an accurate point when she states that it is tough for African filmmakers because they have to represent a culture that has been “unfavorably misrepresented, when [it has] been represented at all” (Mermin 121). There are not a lot of African films and those that exist do not depict the culture accurately and as a result, it creates an audience that is under-informed.

            One of the similarities both films show is a lack of hope. Diouna kills herself because she cannot go on as a maid any longer. She loses her hope and takes the only way she sees out of her situation. Mory leaves France and returns to Senegal where his father pressures him to take a second wife. Mory explains that his only love was for Kumba, who is dead. His French wife divorces him and the woman his father wanted him to make as a second wife agrees to marry someone else. Mory is left feeling hopeless without a sense of belonging as he wanders throughout the cemetery. Both films convey the idea that although Senegal finally achieved independence, the people living there still undergo personal battles every day.