Popular Culture Review 32.1
After some light flirtation with Ismael , and the revelation of Marieme ’ s name , she walks to the building entrance . There is still the sound of young men in the courtyard talking aggressively among themselves . Marieme buzzes up and declares “ C ’ est moi .” It ’ s me , she says : her journey of self-identification begins .
This sequence is composed almost entirely of medium tracking shots ( the young women from the thighs up ). The camera alternates its position either in front of or following the group , but it is always moving to keep pace with them , as if the audience were part of the crowd . It creates a sense of continuous space , that is moreover a clear representation of an Augéan non-place : its features are unremarkable , the “ signs ” are ominous male silhouettes , the woman are effectively nameless , and the change in their volume and mannerisms demonstrates how much control is being asserted here . Even Marieme ’ s identity is checked before she is granted ultimate access to her own home .
THE “ VISIBLE RULES ” OF MASCULINIST SURVEILLANCE
The presence of all of these kinds of non-places in
Bande de filles serves to illustrate a persistent dysphoria in which its characters exist , one that manifests the “ surveillance ” of anthropological place in sinister ways . Surrounded mostly by non-places that enforce a temporary , homogenous identity , Marieme and her friends are denied escape into private and empowering zones of family and repose , for as Sciamma declares : “ Misogynists are everywhere . The cités are a territory where the rules are more visible , but they exist everywhere , in every setting ” ( Laïreche ). 4
These rules seem to be :
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