A Woman Is a Woman

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, Rovi

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, Rovi

Cast

• Anna Karina - Angela
• Jean-Paul Belmondo - Alfred Lubitsch
• Jean-Claude Brialy - Emile Recamier
• Nicole Paquin - Suzanne
• Marie Dubois - 1st Prostitute

Jeanne Moreau - Herself; Catherine Demongeot; Ernest Menzer - Bar Owner; Marion Sarraut - 2nd Prostitute

Credit

Bernard Evein - Art Director, Bernard Evein - Costume Designer, Jean-Luc Godard - Director, Agnès Guillemot - Editor, Lila Herman - Editor, Michel Legrand - Composer (Music Score), Charles Aznavour - Songwriter, Raoul Coutard - Cinematographer, Philippe Dussart - Production Manager, Carlo Ponti - Producer, Georges de Beauregard - Producer, Guy Villette - Sound/Sound Designer, Jean-Luc Godard - Screenwriter

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