Abstract

This article reveals the suburbs as a place of residence and the construction of the identity of the main character in the film Divines (2016) by Houda Benyamina. This film tells of a life of teenagers in France of African immigrants in a suburb. Dounia who is a teenager has the ambition to leave the suburbs and have the life out of the suburbs. The suburb is the setting of the film representing a residence far from downtown whose living conditions are less appropriate. It is a form of social segregation created by the French government which has multiple social problems to its inhabitants. The methodology used is the qualitative research methods. To analyze the narratives and cinematographic aspects, the theory of film studies of Boggs & Petrie has been used, while the concept of identity of Stuart Hall has been used to reveal the social problems of these young people about their identity. The result of the analysis shows that the suburbs appears like a hard and violent space for its inhabitants, and the characters are haunted by dreams of escape. Dounia has fantasies of freedom and luxury which she could find them outside the suburb. As the suburb is a living space, the ambition is simply to leave the suburbs. The identity of Dounia is built from her efforts to achieve her ultimate dream: a new life out of the suburbs.

Keywords

film, construction, identity, suburbs, immigrants

References