Venice Review: ‘Saint Omer’ Explores Motherhood And Greek Tragedy
deadline.comLoneliness, postpartum-depression, motherhood, and isolation are at the core of Alice Diop’s feature film premiering at Venice, Saint Omer.
Written by Diop and Marie N’Diaye, the movie stars Kayije Kagame and Guslagie Malanga. The film sends a message about the pressures of being a single parent and how women connect through trauma.Rama (Kagame) is a journalist and professor who is writing a book loosely based on the myth of Euripides’ play Medea.
Rama has a poor relationship with her mother, which is shown in flashbacks. Her mother often yelled or ignored her. Other times, Rama is watching her mother quietly sob without explaining why she’s upset.
These painful memories affect Rama as she’s pregnant and wonders if she’ll behave similarly when her child is born. As an adult she seeks understanding into her mother’s psyche–that is until she travels to Saint Omer to cover the case of Laurence, a mother on trial for the death of her daughter.
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