International Film Comparison Paper (Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) / Black Girl (1966))

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Film Comparison Paper
Department of Communication, Florida International University

Maven Lebron
COM 3417: Communication in Film
Professor Alfredo Soto
April 01, 2025

 

Abstract

Both Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Black Girl (1966) directed by Ousmane Sembene use many different methods to convey meaning through displaying emotions within the films. This is done through the usage of cinematography, sound design, and story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cinematography

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul and Black Girl both use different types of cinematography to create meaning and emotion for each scene within the film. For example, one tool both films use is static shots to convey different meanings. For Ali: Fear Eats the Soul many static shots are used to help develop the idea of an emotional isolation of the characters and show. One way this is done is by taking a character such as Ali and using the frame within frame blocking and a static and symmetrical shot of Ali showing the audience his loneliness and how he seems trapped. Using these static shots with the help from doorways, windows, and even staircases Fassbinder introduces the entrapment and loneliness these characters feel which contribute to the overall film as they are constantly marginalized in their everyday lives due to Ali and Emmi’s marriage. On the other hand, the film Black Girl also contains static shots primarily in close-up shots of Diouana’s face. These close-up shots help convey Diouana’s emotions and the minimal camera movement assists in the feeling of entrapment by her employers. We see Diouana in a poor situation where her employers constantly take advantage of her and the close-up shots show her reactions of the constant marginalization of her character. This is furthered as later within the film Diouana lifts the mask given to her by a young boy to her face. Sembene continues to get a close-up shot of her putting on the mask which not only represents her entrapment and poor emotional state, but it also represents a loss of identity as she has been marginalized and battered not knowing why she is in France with this family to begin with. Another cinematography tool that both Fassbinder and Sembene use within in their film is the color palette of the film which helps convey meaning. For Ali: Fear Eats the Soul many warm colors are used to give a feeling of comfort and safety. These colors can then be shifted to colder colors to convey the shift in emotions of a character. An example could be that when Ali and Emmi are together, the colors used are primarily warm to convey the comfort they share with each other. But at the same time when Emmi confronts Ali within the shop the colors are cold and seem to show how the comfort is gone, and the sadness of the characters are pouring in. The film Black Girl is in black and white which helps the film represent the difference not only between Senegal and France, but even between Diouana and her employers through the contrast of colors. These contrasts further the idea of marginalization within the film.

Sound design

Both films use a mix of diegetic and non-diegetic sound to convey meaning and display emotions throughout the film. Firstly, with Ali: Fear Eats the Soul diegetic dialogue is used within the film which seems detached. The dialogue between characters at points within the film show the shift between when Emmi and Ali were not known to be together and after they were together. An example of this is through Emmi’s coworkers who all sit together and talk normally but after they learn of Emmi and Ali’s marriage, they become distant and talk poorly about Emmi which helps develop the disconnection that grows between the characters and their hateful emotions towards Emmi due to the prejudice they hold against Ali and other foreigners. Another way Ali: Fear Eats the Soul uses diegetic sound is through diegetic silence. In many scenes within the film silence or echoes in empty rooms can be heard which help develop the sense of isolation within the film. This helps develop the isolation that the characters feel within the film through not only dialog. Within Black Girl diegetic sound is used in many ways. An example of diegetic sound being used within the film to convey meaning and display emotions is the dialog between Diouana’s employer and herself. Although Diouana does not say anything we see diegetic dialog come from the madame that is employing her, this dialog is extremely rude with often no thanks to the work that Diouana has done. We see this hateful dialog develop through the film as the madame becomes more and more rude and discriminative of Diouana as if she can’t do anything right. This poor treatment of Diouana using dialog helps to develop the story and characters appropriately as the madam’s discrimination towards Diouana rises and Diouana becomes more resentful as a result to the poor treatment. In Black Girl Diouana doesn’t truly speak she has her own internal dialog which is still diegetic sound. This internal dialog helps to develop how she feels pressured into silence and how her words have no strength as she is trapped. Furthermore, in Ali: Fear Eats the Soul non-diegetic sound is also used to convey meaning. We can hear non diegetic music in the background of certain scenes which help enhance the emotion of those scenes. While in Black Girl non diegetic sound is rarely used within the film this helps keep a sense of realism within the film to contribute to the emotional suffering of Diouana.

Story

In terms of story and thematic elements both films use elements of racial discrimination in different ways to help develop the story and an overall meaning of the film. To begin, with Ali: Fear Eats the Soul racial discrimination is represented through the racism people hold against foreigners in a post-war Germany. We see throughout the story social prejudice as people are not accepting of the relationship shared between Emmi and Ali, a German woman and a foreigner from Morocco. We see how the oppression from the public affects the relationship between the two characters and how that affects their relationship and how the story moves forward. While in Black Girl we see that racial discrimination is used but not only in a racist way we see how the employers racially exploit Diouana to do their dirty work. This exploitation is seen as dehumanizing and helps develop the story as Diouana feels as though she continues to lose worth and has an identity crisis not understanding why she is being exploited in the first place. This develops the story to the point where Diouana takes her own life a result of her not knowing her worth and her struggling to deal with the racial exploitation to the point where she couldn’t deal with it anymore. Both films use racial aspects within their film to lead to different endings for the characters as in Black Girl we see Diouana give up against the racial exploitation by taking her own life and in Ali: Fear Eats the Soul we see Emmi and Ali overcome the discrimination at the end of the film as they have hope for the future of their relationship.

Conclusion

Overall, both films show meaning and emotion through the use of different cinematography tools such as static shots or color theory, while also using sound design using diegetic and non-diegetic sound to their advantage and even using racial discrimination or exploitation within their film to develop the story and themes of their films. Both movies contain similarities in how discrimination affects the characters but may use other tools explained within the writing in different ways to help develop their film to have their own themes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Fassbinder, R. W. (Director). (1974). Ali: Fear Eats the Soul [Film]. Filmverlag der Autoren.

 

Sembène, O. (Director). (1966). Black Girl [Film]. Filmi Domirev.