Spaces of Critique & Transformation in Bande de filles
through violence — which one could consider to be an ironic parallel with Marieme and her bande , who also express their own anxieties and frustrations through verbal and physical violence .
Ismaël seems in many ways the opposite Djibril . His voice is soft , his bearing timid . He internalizes his anxiety , though he is clearly subject to the same “ charter ” of masculinist domination as Djibril ( Sciamma “ Je vois ”). 5 While Ismaël plays an important role in Marieme ’ s development , helping her to explore the sensual side of her sexuality , in the end he becomes both powerless and patronizing . He is unwilling to openly defy Djibril , and unable to convince Marieme to make a new life with just him . She sees through his romantic gesture to run away together ; it ’ s not devotion or love that motivates him , but rather a hollow sense of chivalry .
Like Isamël , Abou offers Marieme a kind of escape and , along with it , a new identity . Interestingly , being in his employ enables Marieme to simultaneously exploit her sexual appeal when she is working ( cf . the red dress drug delivery ) and to adopt a gender performance that mutes her physical sexual attributes when she is off duty . However , it seems almost inevitable that Abou is less interested in Marieme as a mule than as a ( non-consenting ) sexual partner .
Beyond the common concern with controlling Marieme ’ s sexuality , the aesthetic representation of these characters makes significant use of hors-champ . As Marieme innocuously plays a video game , we hear Djibril arrive . He demands the controller and orders Marieme to bed . When she resists , his reaction is powerful — his upper body surges into frame as he slaps the back of her head and wrests the controller from her grip . There is no reason or conversation here , just the sheer deployment of brute strength and it is in this context
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