There are a thousand ways to shoot a true crime story, but maybe really only one – if the goal is to focus the audience on the nuance of the characters in a way that inspires self-reflection, not judgement. “Saint Omer” does just that, in no small part because of how director Alice Diop approaches film form with a blend of documentary and narrative techniques. The film is based on the real-life trial of a woman accused of killing her infant daughter, but this fictionalized account relies not at all on the strategic feints of the prosecution and the defense, thrilling reveals of withheld information, or crime scene recreations. Instead, Diop’s precisely composed long takes simply force us to sit and to listen to the story Laurence Coly (Guslagie Malanda) tells.
In scripted features, usually there’s a lot of invisible work done to help the audience focus on the...
In scripted features, usually there’s a lot of invisible work done to help the audience focus on the...
- 1/14/2023
- by Sarah Shachat
- Indiewire
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