Slideshow
Jean-Luc Goddard’s
A WOMAN IS A WOMAN
Friday, February 7 – Thursday, February 20
France, 1961
Written and directed by Jean-Luc Goddard
Starring Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean-Claude Brialy
Music by Michel Legrand
Cinematography by Raoul Coutard
In French with English subtitles
Approx. 84 min. 4K DCP Restoration.
“I want to be in a musical with Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly… choreographed by Bob Fauce (sic)!” declares Anna Karina, and she almost gets her wish in this first color, Scope, and mostly studio-shot film by then-husband Jean-Luc Godard, the second of their 7½ collaborations. A simple story — Karina’s Angela, an afternoon stripper in the sleazy Zodiac Club, yearns for motherhood, but live-in boyfriend Jean-Claude Brialy “isn’t ready yet,” while hanger-on Jean-Paul Belmondo is more than happy to oblige — is festooned with enough eccentric musical moments to satisfy the most avant of gardists: a Charles Aznavour song almost arbitrarily rocketing on and off the soundtrack; Karina’s stripping ditties; Michel Legrand’s score thundering into split-second breaks in dialogue. Plus cinematic in-jokes galore (Belmondo not wanting to miss BREATHLESS on TV; a straight-to-the-camera nod to Burt Lancaster in Vera Cruz; Jeanne Moreau in a bar being asked how JULES ET JIM is coming along; Truffaut star Marie Dubois miming the title SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER, as a machine gun rat-tat-tats on the track) and plenty of anarchic humor (Brialy’s bicycle ride through the apartment; a silent bedtime argument played out via book jacket titles; the backstage quick changes effected by cheekily obvious trick photography; men in the street, shot vérité style, asked at random if they’d like to father Karina’s child), with 1961 Paris stunningly photographed by New Wave master Raoul Cotard (BREATHLESS, JULES ET JIM, SHOOT THE PIANO PLATER, CONTEMPT, BAND OF OUTSIDERS). A jeu d’esprit of the New Wave that won a jury prize from the Berlin festival for its “originality, youth, audacity and impertinence,” while the enchanting Karina (in her first major role) was named Best Actress, “a revelation possessing qualities rare in an actress.”
Restored by Studiocanal, with the support of the CNC. Scanned in 4K from the original 35mm negatives by Hiventy.
Presented with support from The George Fasel Memorial Fund for Classic French Cinema
A RIALTO PICTURES RELEASE
Reviews
“Never heavy-handed, the film defies genre-placement. This subversive musical celebrates female empowerment and takes sly jabs at Hollywood film conventions.”
– Slant Magazine