Une femme est une femme

Jean-Luc Godard never shied away from innovation and stress-testing the boundaries of film conventions. He swiftly rose to fame with his debut film, crime drama À bout de souffle, but did not want to repeat himself and framed Une femme est une femme as a ‘neorealist musical’. Godard admitted himself that the concept was a deliberate contradiction, but nevertheless the film became a staple of the French New Wave cinema and one of most loved films by audiences worldwide.

Featuring French superstars Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Jean-Claude Brialy at their peak of popularity, Une femme est une femme is a sly, playful tribute to the American musical comedy, showcasing Godard’s signature wit and sharp mind.

The film tells the story of exotic dancer Angéla (Karina) as she attempts to have a child with her unwilling lover Émile (Brialy). In the process, she finds herself torn between him and his best friend Alfred (Belmondo). A dizzying collection of color, humor, and the music of renowned composer Michel Legrand, Une femme est une femme finds the young Godard at his warmest and most accessible, reveling in and scrutinizing the mechanics of his great obsession: the cinema.