Sisters in Law Close-Up (“Divorce” Sequence)
Narrative Overview
After winning her court case against her abusive husband, Amina goes on to divorce him under Sharia Law without Vera’s support. She enters the room and is seated down next to her husband and opposite an all male jury. Kim stays on her side of the room for the whole sequence, as Amina explains again to the male prosecutors why she can’t go back to her husband and what happened on their last two week trail recommended by the court. At first the men patronise her and make crude jokes about the abuse she will receive if she goes back- initially looking like they will send her back to her husband who doesn’t deny any of the abuse but still doesn’t want her to divorce him. After a physical camera movement, however, the jury quickly changes it’s tune and agrees to the divorce under the guise that they want all Cameroonians to be happy and free and the scene ends with Amina crying and starting her new independent life (which she thanks the Women’s legal agency for giving her the courage to do.)
Key Elements:
Cinematography
The camera at first moves from door behind Amina to the cornier facing her- but is always on her side and she is normal in the frame somehow. When she is talking to the men she is the main focus and the only person on screen, when her husband is talking she is still stood up and centralised next to him and when the jury is talking they are often seen in an over the shoulder shot from behind her. This allows Longinotto to clearly show her allegiance and create a physical sense that Amina is outnumbered in the room but is still fighting for her rights and freedom.
After the overstepping rape joke made by the president of the Jury, the camera physically moves back from a zoomed in close up of Amina’s face to wider two shot of her and her husband. Because it doesn’t zoom out and actually moves, Amina briefly (and defeatedly) looks towards Kim. This reinforces the fact they have overstepped, and possibly impacts the output of the scene with the unnatural and unexpected divorce that up until that point seemed impossible.
Editing
Most of the longer takes in this scene are of Amina’s reactions to the men’s initially patronising and then of her finding her voice. We rarely see the men just talking, but there is a very close up shot of the marriage certificate and then the man signing the divorce- almost like the camera isn’t moving away just to be sure that was actually the outcome.
Mise En Scene
The room is very similar to the other aging architecture of the town, but there is an obvious visual contrast between the men in white linen and Amina in her colourful traditional dress that she is seen wearing throughout. She is often also framed with the light doorway in the background against the darker room; both visual elements making her stand out and seem strong and bold in her actions.
Performance
For the men of the Jury, there is a very obvious change in tone mid way through the case. They respond to Amina by talking over her and patronising her when she is overwhelmed signing her name asking her if she knows how to write. After she talks out the empowerment Vera and her team had given her they re-establish their control with “you have to do as we say”- briefly showing their insult at educated women helping to bring down the patriarchy (which receives an eyebrow raise from the woman at the back of the room.)
After Amina explains the abuse she had endured in great detail the Jury still threatens to send her back to him for a tail, then joke that he would “split her open” if she went back. The tone very quickly changes after this with the divorce proceedings being rushed through and then the Jury asking her if she “feels free” and expressing that Cameroon wants her to be happy. It isn’t clear why they did this- maybe out of guilt for joking about her assault, or to make a point to Longinotto’s western audience that they are positively supporting women. Either way, Amina got her divorce.
Sound
Th sound is only diegetic.
Context:
The divorce is taking place in a Sharia Law Court, which is the second option after reconciliation fails which is usually the option given to couples. Then (to put it briefly) the husband can divorce his wife for any reason but has to pay the remainder of the dowry, but the wife can only divorce her husband if he agrees or there is evidence of him being at fault.
Representation:
Age
N/A
Culture/Ethnicity
The all male jury very clearly belittles and disrespects Amina because of her gender- asking her if she can write when she is overwhelmed about signing her divorce paper and then repeatedly talking over her while she is forced to recollect the abuse from her husband (which the court was already aware of.) After listening to all the reasons she can’t go back to her husband, they still propose a two week trail but then joke between them that he’ll “split her open.” This response could be from them feeling threatened by her boldness and conviction, threatening their beneficial patriarchal society and therefore making them patronise her until overstepping and having to backtrack to save face in front of the camera.
Gender
See paragraph above, but also Amina talks about how the female lawyers who supported her gave her the empowerment to do this- the jury didn’t like this.
Filmmaker’s Theories:
Longinotto said that the movement after the extreme joke wasn’t intentionally to get the men’s attention, but it obviously did even if it wasn’t meant to and the room is then aware of her presence again. Until that point it definitely looked like the outcome of the case was Amina being forced back to her abusive husband, but then as she leaves the room for the jury to make the decision the camera is zoomed right into the marriage certificate and the back to the man’s face. This make’s this scene far less observational as she shows Amina’s sole point of view throughout and then uses the camera to blatantly point at the man who is making the decisions.
Digital Technology:
Zooms and pans are used a lot in this scene, but the camera is also often moved behind Amina and back to opposite her more than previous cases where Longinotto stays put and only uses zooms to show each character- there is now way her presence in unseen in this scene.