Review of Girlhood (2014) by Elgan D — 24 Jan 2016

Where THE FALLING failed to engage me on an emotional level, GIRLHOOD provided that in spades. It tells the story of Marieme (Karidja Toure), a young girl on the cusp of becoming a woman. Like pretty much every person, she wants to find a place in the world and be happy, and the film is basically an exploration of how she tries to achieve those goals.

The major thing standing in the way, one of the cold truths about how the real world works, is that not only is she a female, but a minority female as well. She goes through all of the usual difficulties in addition to ones unique to people of color.

For instance, because of her low grades in junior high (or at least the French equivalent), an unseen school counselor suggests that she go to vocational school instead of moving on to lycee (high school), which Marieme rejects.

Her path to self-realization is an arduous and emotionally difficult one in which she encounters sexism and abuse, but still manages to soldier on. Her story is the story of many young women and, for that reason, it should resonate with many people regardless of cultural boundaries.

From a technical perspective, the production values were impeccable and all of the performances were perfect, with a degree of authenticity I haven't seen in a while. Every bit of dialogue felt realistic, and the actors were even able to convey a lot through equally deft physical performances.

I also quite liked the score and soundtrack. The only reservation I have is that the narrative is a bit unbalanced in how much time it devotes to each phase of Marieme's "becoming," but this is otherwise a phenomenal effort from all involved.

For whatever reason, this got no love from the Academy, but GIRLHOOD is definitely worth your time.