A Woman Is a Woman (2003)

Truly the worst movie I've ever seen in a theater

Just perfect...

Disturbing yet enthralling

Best movie ever!

Two or three very good jokes (the scene in which Belmondo is accosted by a creditor and they end up hurling insults at each other as they cross the road in different directions, and the sequence in which so many people bludge a light off Belmondo's cigarette, he ends up with an unsmokable stub) and a very promising opening give little indication of the seemingly endless dreariness to come when Jean-Claude Brialy cycles on to the scene and the characters settle down to a boring array of routine recriminations in the one dreary set. It looks like the producer was unable to afford only two indoor sets. Admittedly, the director has tried to circumvent the shortage with a bit of location work, but this is neither skillfully chosen nor cleverly employed. Worse still, the obviously hand-held camera wobbles to an incredible degree. No doubt, a lot of this was done deliberately in order to disguise the ineptness of the direction and the lack of francs in the producer's pocket. But there was really no need for this display of deliberate ineptitude. The rest of the movie in itself provides evidence enough. And to make matters worse, Anna Karina acts like a wet rag, nothing like the delightfully animated personality she unveiled in "She'll Have To Go".

Une femme est une femme (Jean-Luc Godard, 1961) conjures that feeling of acute frustration unique to the work of Jean-Luc Godard: as soon as it achieves some kind of clarity or emotional attractiveness it goes off somewhere else. But if that new diversion isn't working, don't worry - there'll be another one along in a minute. Anna Karina is good as the playful, big-eyed protagonist, who loves her boyfriend (Jean-Claude Brialy) but wants a baby so much she might just have one with her ex (Jean-Paul Belmondo, in another winning performance). The film is brightly-coloured, imaginative and littered with movie in-jokes, containing references to the movies of Godard and his Nouvelle Vague contemporary Francois Truffaut and nods to old Hollywood musicals (Gene Kelly and Bob Fosse are namechecked, Belmondo's surname is Lubitsch). And every so often everything clicks into place: like the terrific snippet in which Belmondo is accused of dodging the rent, the barrage of peculiar noises preceding his anticipated bathroom tryst with Karina or the series of visual gags based on manipulated book titles. But the movie frequently unravels, with long stretches that offer nothing but vivid direction and a feeling that Godard should really watch some of those musical comedies he claims to be homaging. The film's incoherence is mistaken by some critics for freewheeling brilliance, which is a pretty stupid mistake to make.

A Woman is a Woman is certainly Godard's most accessible work if you've never seen one of his films. Unfortunately for the rest of us, Godard's 1961 effort leaves the viewer yearning for the taste of his better work. That's not to say that "A Woman is a Woman" is a waste of time. The performances of Anna Karina, Jean-Claude Braily and Jean-Paul Belmondo are never less than fun to watch, and Godard genuinely seemed to have a good time teasing his audience by playing simple tricks, which include blasting an old fashioned score only to arbitrarily cut it out moments later. The score helps the film become a sort of pseudo- musical in which even the fights between the Karina character and Braily's become a sort of staged production. Scenes in which the two lovers insult each other by holding up book titles as well as a few glimpses of his master touch, keep this motorboat from stalling. On the other hand...It could be because he shot the film with only a loose outline and not a full script, or it could be that with all his references to Francois Truffaut's "Shoot the Piano Player,"Burt Lancaster and his own work, M. Godard is a little high on himself. Those references mean nothing to what's happening in the film and are intended to be amusing winks and nudges to the audience, most will enjoy this, others will feel their eyes starting to roll. When all is said and done, this film is the closest thing to "commercial" as Godard gets. The scenes in which Belmondo and Karina begin imitating each other seem like something out of a musical, and yet no one breaks out into song. The music is used instead to emphasize what is happening on screen, so much so that it comes off as less of an homage to the musical, but rather a satirical sucker punch. The music is so bombastic at times that it trivializes what they are arguing about, making the tiff between the two lovers seem almost unimportant. In fact, it makes what they're discussing quite comical. Initially, Godard does seem interested in exploring actions taken in relationships. Unlike, say, most American films about relationships, there doesn't seem to be a discussion of any of the people's moral character. Godard seems focused on how people act, not necessarily why. Love, is a human emotion that can't be explained, but what people do when they're in love can be filmed. It's frustrating that Godard didn't delve into this theme any deeper instead of concentrating on style...as stylish as it is. The film isn't for some, even most people. And although it has it's flaws, no one should be discouraged from watching A Woman is a Woman.

"Une femme est une femme" (1961) is the second Goddard's film – his dissection of a traditional Musical and Comedy. It may seem silly and naïve at times but it is a funniest and most enjoyable of his films that I've seen so far. A pretty stripper Angela (Anna Karina) wants a child. She decided to become a respectable bourgeois mother and wife but her dear husband Emil (Jean - Claude Briali) is categorically against her decision. He loves his wife but he loves his freedom even more, and the child means the end of freedom. Angela turns for help to Emil's friend, Alfred (Jean - Paul Belmondo). He is ready to do anything for Angela because he's been deeply and desperately in love with her ...But a woman is a woman and blessed is he who truly knows what she wants.7/10