A Woman Is a Woman
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Written by Jean-Luc Godard
1961/France/Italy
Euro International Films/Rome Paris Films
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Alfred Lubitsch: Make up your minds. I’d hate to miss “BREATHLESS” – it’s on T.V.[/box]
Godard’s second feature is bright, shiny and brings us the lovely Anna Karina. It’s even more meta than Breathless and I’m still not buying it.
Stripper Angela (Karina) is locked in a perpetual, playful battle of the sexes with stuffy live-in lover Emile Recamier (Jean-Claude Brialy). She is also in a long-term flirtation with Emile’s friend, Alfred Lubitsch (Jean-Paul Belmondo). Angela has decided she wants a baby.
The plot, such as it is, concerns Angela’s light-hearted attempts to play the two men against each other until she gets what she wants.
As always, this is an exercise in style and the style is certainly innovative and fun. Godard is the star of all his films. Here he enjoys making references to his contemporaries in the French New Wave, going so far as having a character meeting a cameo Jeanne Moreau in a bar and asking her how Jules and Jim is going. I like some meat on the bones of my movies and am afraid Godard might never be for me.
Trailer
