Main Cast: Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Claude Brialy, Nicole Paquin, Marie Dubois
Release Year: 1961
Country: IT/FR
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
Director Jean-Luc Godard's deceptively blithe tribute to the musical comedy features Anna Karina as an exotic dancer who decides that it is time for her to have a child. When her lover refuses to commit to the decision, she turns her romantic attentions to his best friend. This being a Godard film, the straightforward story serves as a framework for improvisation and stylistic experimentation, allowing for odd interludes and unexpected images. Rather than the sometimes alienating, dense intellectualism of later Godard works, Une femme est une femme offers aesthetic pleasure through luxurious visuals and a charming musical score by Michel Legrand. Against this bright backdrop, Karina proves particularly fetching, capturing the film's frolicsome mood in an unforced manner. While not one of Godard's most groundbreaking or influential films, Une femme est une femme is one of his most appealing and pleasurable efforts. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Review
Famously described by Jean-Luc Godard as "a neorealist musical, that is, a contradiction in terms," Une Femme Est Une Femme is as singular as its maker's caption suggests. Charming and jarring, sometimes within the same scene, Godard's third film does for the movie musical what Breathless, his groundbreaking debut, did for the gangster film. The movie has the makings of a typical musical -- attractive actors, bold colors, and melodious music, not to mention picturesque Paris. Not any less pleasurable is Godard's technical mastery. Graceful camera moves, harmonious choreography within the frame, and expressionistic lighting make the movie a joy to watch from a purely formal standpoint. As it becomes clear early on, however, these distinct elements never quite cohere in the way we expect them to. The score flits in and out of a musical number unexpectedly; scenes and the songs accompanying them end unfinished; title cards and direct addresses to the audience interrupt the narrative. Never allowing us to succumb to the spell of movie alchemy, Godard pulls back the curtain to call attention to the inner workings of a genre designed to captivate. For all its attempts at autocritique, the movie nonetheless creates its own transfixing beauty. Playfully cerebral and never less than lovely -- it opens and ends, aptly enough, with a coy wink at its audience -- Une Femme Est Une Femme may be the warmest gesture in Godard's career-long interrogation of film's glories and deceptions. ~ Elbert Ventura, All Movie Guide
The film centers around the relationship of exotic dancer Angéla (Karina) and her lover Émile (Brialy). Rather than ever having a proper discussion, Angéla and Émile prefer to trivialise serious matters, for example, arguing using book titles, and argue about trivialities, such as Angela's pronunciation of the letter "r". Angéla wants to have a child, but Émile does not. Complicating matters is Émile's best friend Alfred (Belmondo), who constantly insists that he is in love with her.
References
There are many references to other films of the French New Wave throughout the film, including:
A bout de souffle (another film by Godard, also starring Jean-Paul Belmondo)
