Girlhood (Bande de Filles)

From 18th century France in Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, to the modern-day suburbs of Paris, Girlhood focusses on Marieme, a 16 year old girl and her relationship with a group of girls she eventually fits into. The coming of age drama not only bring us back to the urban landscapes seen in La Haine or Les Miserables, but into the lives of French-African women, the expectations their families and communities have of them whilst they navigate through the struggles of teen hood.

Though smart, Marieme’s school doesn’t deem her fit for any higher education. Where, therefore, does she fit? With her friends, they get up to antics not unfamiliar to this kind of teenage coming-of-age genre; shoplifting, dressing up, the opposite sex, a search for escapism. And like the best of these films, from Sixteen Candles to Boyhood, the film doesn’t judge these women. It simply allows them to be. Their eyes and gestures tell us more about what is in their hearts than their fast-talking, street, show-offy words do. It is a celebration of friendship and love between women who have few options and feel isolated, and how they keep alive and happy.

Plenty has been written about the film’s key scene, in which the girls come together and dance to Rhianna’s ‘Diamonds’. It is one of those combinations of film and music, or inclusion of a song in a movie, that will be talked about and referenced for decades. It is a moment of such wondrous joy and teenage innocence, you won’t forget it for a long time. Months after seeing it, it still returns and plays in my mind when I least expect it.