Current trends in contemporary film theory seek to explore the formal and substantive features of cinemas portraying third world countries and the transnational minorities dwelling in the west. According to Nacify (10), theories of Third Cinema were widespread during the 1970s and 1980s, but by the 90s, there was parallel theoretical development of film studies owing to factors such as “globalization, transnational migration and the buildup of work by Western filmmakers portraying the origin of post-colonial and post-Soviet alliances”. Nacify (10) claims that the perspective followed by accented filmmakers is similar to that of Third Cinema theorists, except for the modifications made by the former to address specific aesthetic and thematic concerns pertaining to transnational minority cinemas, and refers to the contemporary film theory as ‘accented cinema’.
The primary characteristics of accented cinema are “thematic concerns, ethnic identification of the filmmakers, formal and aesthetic features, and the production technique” (Nacify 12). In the recent past, mainstream producers have been drawn towards accented cinema, which has disrupted the sovereign and collaborative production techniques. This paper seeks to draw a comparison between two films, Inch’Allah Dimanche (2001) directed by feminist filmmaker Yamina Benguigui, and Slumdog millionaire (2008), directed by Danny Boyle. The contrast shall take into consideration that both directors are accented filmmakers, though Yamina maintains the aesthetic and thematic features associated with accented Cinema, while Boyle employs conventional film form and production techniques that are characteristic of modernized accented cinema.
Synopsis of the two films
Inch’Allah Dimanche (2001) or Inch’Allah Sunday is set in the 1970s following the enactment of a “Family Reunion” law by the French government to permit Algerian men working in France to move their families there lawfully. The story revolves around one of the Algerian families that migrated to France, including the female protagonist, ‘Zouina, her husband, Ahmed, her mother-in-law, Aicha, and her three children. The conflict begins with a fearful husband, who perceives that his wife will be influenced by the French society, and therefore, forbids Zouina from leaving their rented house. From this point onwards, Zouina is under constant physical and emotional abuse from her husband and mother-in-law, as well as the non-sympathetic neighbor who is more concerned with winning a prize for having the best flower garden.
Fortunately, Zouina meets a young, white, French woman called Briat, who helps her to adjust to the French culture and new environment. It does not take long for Zouina to start feeling conflicted about sticking to her conventional Algerian ideals and fully embracing the feminization and urbanization of France. Under constant oppression from her husband and mother-in-law, she finds herself entrapped and distanced from the love and companionship of her family and friends. Zouina only hope for freedom is on Sundays, when she is home alone and free to explore the countryside with her children in an attempt to accept the challenges of immigration, integration and a sense of sovereignty.
Slumdog Millionaire is a film about a poor 18 year-old orphaned and uneducated boy, Jamal Malik, who lives in the slums of Mumbai. The story starts when Jamal is one question away from winning 20 million rupees on an Indian game show called “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”. However, the show’s host perceives that Jamal is cheating, and gets him arrested and tormented by the police in order to get him to admit how he was able to deceive the system. The Inspector seeks to find out how a slumdog, an unskillful poor boy who grew up in the slums, could get all the answers correctly while educated people like doctors and lawyers, who had attempted the game before, never managed to get that many questions right. This is the crux of the film as Jamal narrates how he can answer all the questions correctly, and why he went to the show in the first place.
The film follows an episodic flow as Jamal shares his childhood stories with the inspectors, including his life struggles with his brother Salim, and third orphan girl in their trio, Latika. Surviving in the City’s trash piles, the three are rescued by a “good Samaritan” who they later discover is a gangster and manage to flee, though Latika is left behind. The two brothers engage in a life of crime to survive, but Jamal feels dissatisfied and plans on searching for Latika. Salim does not share in this line of thought, and prefers to continue in his life of crime, rising in the ranks until the present time of the film. Jamal, on the other hand, is driven by love and hope to find Latika, and works as a tea boy in an Indian call center earning an honest wage.
Accented Filmmakers and Cinema
A primary feature of accented filmmakers is their exotic nature, in that they are “immigrants, diasporic subjects, exiles, or born to immigrant families who have moved from third world to first world countries” (LeBlanc 2). This implies that they have a multicultural and transnational nature; hence, the incorporation of historical and social elements within and beyond a single nation, in their films (Stam 188). In addition, accented cinema is portrayed as not only a reflection of the intercultural nature of the transnational filmmaker, but also a film that seeks to actively disclose the elements of multiculturalism and transnationalism. Based on this analysis, accented cinemas like Inch’Allah Dimanche and Slumdog millionaire seek to address the apprehension that nationality and culture imposes on the characters with regard to their current cultures. Accented cinema exposes a border consciousness using multilingual and multifocal aesthetic using a variety of subjects (Nacify 31).
The Conflict
The conflict in accented cinemas is typically related to finding an identity within a polymorphous setting of traditional, cultural, gender, sexual, religious, or ethnic affiliations. This subject is mostly dominant in Inch’Allah Dimanche owing to the fact that the director, Yamina, has based the story on her personal encounters as an expatriate Algerian woman. As a feminist theorist, Yamina seeks to reveal not only the notions associated with a minority feminist community, but also the ironic and self-reflexive nature of Zouina’s battle with multiple resistances. In Inch’Allah Dimanche, the audience is exposed to the tribulations encountered by the protagonist and her fight to attain a substantial level of autonomy and poise regardless of her overpowering odds.
To achieve this, the story employs reminiscent symbolism and expressive presentations, presenting a traumatic notion of Algerian family life and society in 1970s France. Yamina creates further conflict by colliding Arabic customs to French traditions when she introduces the neighbor, Madame Donze, and then challenges Arabic tradition and obedience to Muslim patriarchy, which has limited the progress of Algerian women by introducing Briat. Basically, Zouina has to cope with her resentful husband, Ahmed, abusive mother-in-law, Aicha, and a country that gladly welcomes her as a laborer but fails to accept her in society, and her only “reprieve are the furtive expeditions to the outside world that she makes on Sundays when her husband and mother-in-law are away” (Meeran 7).
The conflict in slumdog Millionaire arises when the TV show host and police inspectors doubt the honesty of the protagonist and suspect him of cheating. They doubt that a poor boy can possibly challenge and win over highly intelligent people like lawyers and doctors. However, Jamal’s interest is not in winning the money; hence, his comfort and composure under the glaring TV lights. Instead, Jamal is driven by hope to get in-touch with his long-lost love, Latika. As a Muslim, Jamal believes in destiny; he expects to meet Latika and also win the money so that their long life of suffering and unhappiness can come to an end (Stam 193).
Form of Narrative
Inch’Allah Dimanche employs linear narrative, which is not typical of accented cinema, in order to weaken social principles and force the audience to experience the struggles and drudgery of Zouina’s life, and even anticipate the reprieve of every Sunday. The linear narrative seeks to emphasize the thematic and consistent nature of the suppression of French-North African women within the family and conventional society and develops a sense of hope, even though it is just momentary. Slumdog millionaire, on the other hand, employs a non-linear narrative, though not in accordance with accented cinema.
A big portion of the film involves the protagonist recounting the film in flashback to provide the audience with not only a clue of how he knew the answers to the questions, but also to share his past relationship with his brother and Latika, and their experiences. The role of linear narration in accented cinema is to relay cultural meaning and dissident aesthetic, though Boyle incorporates elements of globalization and compromises on the Indian authenticity of the film.
Style Used
Inch’Allah Dimanche makes use of a variety of principles that are characteristic of realist aesthetic rather than expressionistic style of filming. According to Naficy (22), realism is a property of classical Hollywood cinema, which makes it less of accented cinema, though Bazin (34) argues that realism entails dialogue or sound within a shot, a variety of overlaid actions, deep focus, minimal use of montage, and use of long take to produce relevance, which are characteristic of accented cinema and Third Cinema. By employing realism, Inch’Allah Dimanche allows the audience to have multiple interpretations of the film, causing the reality to appear as moderately vague. The audience is able to view Zouina’s domestic experiences from a broad perspective, and focus on any one aspect that catches their attention the most.
Slumdog Millionaire emphasizes on the end, which is characteristic of realism, though it does not share a lot of history with the audience, or create room for imagination due to limited depth of field. Nonetheless, Boyle creates transparency of pretense to allow the audience to feel like they have travelled to India and have been immersed in a genuine Mumbai experience. Like Inch’Allah Dimanche, Slumdog Millionaire relies heavily on close-ups and a blurred background to establish realism.
Inch’Allah Dimanche succeeds in establishing multiple discussions through the use of Arabic text, which is identified as a legitimate French language and symbolizes the multicultural diversity of France. Despite Arabic being her home language, there are prolonged periods of Zouina’s silence, which are attributed to her subaltern status in France, as her identity is confined by the elite of her own community, represented by her husband and mother-in-law, as well as the former colonial power, represented by mainstream France – mostly her neighbor (Bazin). Zouina symbolizes the French-Algerian women and the disappearance of their voice owing to suppressive forces from fellow elite country men and women and the modernized society in France.
Inch’Allah Dimanche highlights the silencing of the transnational minority woman, though the protagonist later finds her voice with the support of compassionate white French women (Meeran 34). The disparity in slumdog Millionaire is in the form of a villain, who is the game show host. He is opposed to the victory of a slumdog, and even attempts to trick him into cheating by providing him with a wrong answer. In addition, Jamal is forced to challenge the gangster capitalism of India in order to save his long-lost love. To establish the somber mood in this film, Boyle even fails to include music videos that are characteristic of Bollywood, and instead, limits the music to some faint echo with no dancing (LeBlanc 104).
Conclusion
In addressing polymorphous affiliations, Inch’Allah Dimanche reveals an open and unobstructed friendship between Zouina and Briat and Manant (white French women) that does not require the painful process of re-acculteration that is required to break the racist antagonism of her neighbors, Madame and Monsieur Donze, whereby the ‘French’ accept the immigrants, ‘French Algerian’. Other barriers to the establishment of a multicultural and transnational French nationality include French-Algerian masculinity represented by Zouina’s husband, French Algerian femininity represented by her mother-in-law, and loyalty to the gender identity of French North African women, as portrayed by Malika, the young Algerian woman who rejects Zouina’s friendship unless her husband is consulted. In slumdog Millionaire, the protagonist, Jamal, finds his liberation from a life of poverty, persecution by police, doubt by an untrustworthy TV show host, and capitalism that keeps him away from his lover, when he finally wins the 20 million rupees and re-unites with Latika. Both films provide the audience with a strong sense of hope that culminates in liberation of the protagonists from their prolonged abuse and antagonism.
Works Cited
Bazin, Andre. What is Cinema. Berkeley: University of California Pres, 2005. Print.
LeBlanc, John. “Under the Umbrella: Accented Cinema and Trans-cultural Potential in Recent Indian Film.‟ Journal of Post-Colonial Cultures and Societies 1.2 (2010): 91-95. Print.
Meeran, Zinaid. Transnational Feminism Counters the Streamlining of Accented Cinema. Los Angeles: UCLA, 2005. Print.
Stam, Robert. Multiculuralism and the Neoconservatives. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997. Print.