Girlhood

Girlhood is the third feature film by French director Céline Sciamma and chronicles the formative experiences of sixteen year old Marieme, played by Karidja Touré, as she struggles with a disruptive home life and an expanding social life. Much has been made of the fact that Touré and the three major supporting roles were all cast off the street and the four actresses had no previous experience or formal training; however, it is worth repeating what has been observed many times already, that their performances are excellent and quite possibly the best thing about the film, helping it sustain a relentless energy and momentum. This is aided by Sciamma’s use of handheld cameras and an abundance of very close-up shots which put a lot of pressure on the cast, especially Touré, to retain the audience’s interest. This is a challenge they relish and Touré, who is in virtually every single scene, is absolutely captivating.

Sciamma’s previous two films, Water Lillies and Tomboy also concern coming-of-age experiences of teen and pre-teen characters, and the director has described Girlhood as concluding a loose, thematic trilogy. She clearly has a gift for capturing a sense of the excitement and confusion which come with stories of youthful development, but I’m not sure her script is as strong as the mood she creates or the performances she elicits from her cast. At times the dialogue and plotting seemed to me a little contrived and the film suffers in the final half hour when Marieme’s thee friends are side-lined from the narrative. This is the only point when I felt the film partly lost its infectious
energy, and the development of Marieme becoming involved in drug dealing seemed somewhat incongruous and unnecessary.

Despite these flaws, the positives far outweigh the negatives, and a film this engaging and visually arresting is worthy of anybody’s time and money.