Une femme est une femme (1961)

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writer:

Jean-Luc Godard (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 September 1961 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Musical | Romance

Plot:

Angela,a striptease artist, wants to have a baby and tries to persuade her boyfriend Emile to go along with the idea...

Plot Keywords:

Striptease | Immaturity | Telephone | Femme Fatale | Wink

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Jean-Claude Brialy	...	Émile Récamier (as Brialy)
Anna Karina	...	Angela (as Karina)
Jean-Paul Belmondo	...	Alfred Lubitsch (as Belmondo)

Also Known As:

A Woman Is a Woman (USA)
La donna è donna (Italy)

Runtime:

Argentina:85 min | USA:84 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (cut) | UK:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:16 | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | Brazil:16 | West Germany:18 (nf)

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Euro International Film (EIA)

Trivia:

Jean-Luc Godard's first film in color.

Quotes:

Angela: Would you rather have fish or meat for dinner?
[impatient]
Angela: Emile!
Émile Récamier: Fish.
Angela: What would you have preferred if you were having meat?
Émile Récamier: I dunno. Veal.
Angela: And if you were to have beef rather than veal, would you prefer a steak or a roast?
Émile Récamier: A steak.
Angela: And had you answered roast, would you prefer it rare or well-done?
Émile Récamier: Rare.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Cinéastes de notre temps: Le dinosaure et le bébé, dialogue en huit parties entre Fritz Lang et Jean-Luc Godard" (1967)

Soundtrack:

Chanson d'Angela

Playful to the full

Yet Godard made some films which were more intelligent (or included more intelligent people), this one is definitely one of the funniest. Parodizing some aspects of the genre of musical comedy, there is not very much singing and dancing performed on screen, but the dialogues and actions are often quite absurd, or exaggerated, or not quite realistic, just like a song in a musical.

This is why at times it seems that Anna Karina's character is a little dumb, whereas in some dialogues she reminded me of Brigitte Bardot in Le mépris, who is cruel but not at all stupid. Convincing characters are not the most important thing in Une femme est une femme.

Playful camera work, playful use of music. A short and entertaining Godard film (really!), which nevertheless provides masses of material to be interpreted by New Wave lovers.