Black Girl
The plot continually shifts back and forth between Diouana's present life in France where she works a domestic servant, and flashbacks of her previous life in Senegal. During flashbacks of Diouana's life in Senegal, the viewer learns that she comes from a very poor village outside of Dakar. Most people in the village cannot read or write. Every day Diouana would roam around the city in the hopes of finding a job. One day, Madame came to the square, looking for a servant. She selected Diouana from the crowd of unemployed women because she was submissive, and did not crowd forward eagerly demanding a job. She hired Diouana to care for her three children in Dakar. As a gift, Diouana gave her new employers a traditional mask that she had bought from a small boy for 50 guineas. The employers display it in their home. When Dionana is not working for Monsieur and Madame she spends time with her boyfriend, going for walks. It isn't long before Monsieur and Madame offer Diouana a job working for them in France. Diouana is thrilled, and immediately begins dreaming of her new life in France. But in France Diouana is overworked, cooking and cleaning for the rich French couple and their friends. The couple treats her harshly and doesn't allow her to rest. Diouana is confused as to her role in their household. She thought that she would be caring for children, as she did in Senegal. She thought that she would be able to go outside and see something of France. But she is always inside, cooking and cleaning the house. When she works she wears a fancy dress and heels. The mistress of the house tells her to remove them, telling her "don't forget that you are a maid." One night at a dinner party, one of Madame and Monsieur's friends kisses Diouana without her consent, explaining "I've never kissed a negress before!" Diouana receives a letter from her mother in the mail, which Monsieur reads to her. In the letter, Diouana's mother asks why she hasn't heard from her daughter, and pleads for some money. Diouana rips the letter up. Madame refuses to let Diouana sleep, and yells at her to get to work. Diouana attempts to take back the mask she gave to Madame, and a struggle ensues. Madame tells Diouana that if she does not work, she cannot eat. Diouana refuses to work. Then, in an unexpected plot twist that is the climax of the film, Diouana commits suicide by slitting her throat in the bathtub of the family's home. The film ends with Monsieur journeying to Senegal to return Diouana's suitcase and mask to her family. He offers Diouana's mother money, but she is insulted and refuses to take it. As Monsieur leaves the village, the little boy with the mask runs along behind him, symbolizing how Monsieur is haunted by his own memories.
violence, blaxploitation, melodrama