A Woman Is a Woman

Jean-Luc Godard it is said by some to be one of the greatest French filmmakers ever! It is also said that he was a great inventor for cinema. I can't can't get why people say such things about him! Don't get me wrong, Godard has made some good movies. His best in my opinion was "Breathless", he then later made two decent films; "My Life To Live" (Maybe a bit more than decent) and "First Name; Carmen". He, as a filmmaker, has consistanly shocked me with his films. As someone who's a wanna be filmmaker I ususally see as many films as possible by all the highly reguarded filmmakers. It is for that reason, and ONLY that reason that I continue to watch films by Godard. "Two or Three Things I Know About Her" digust me! It's soooo pretenious! It trys so hard to be something it can never be. The same is true with his later film "Passion". And his earlier "masterpiece" "Weekend". But, this film is not as bad as those other films ( at least in my opinion). This movie in the begining works quite well. There actually seems to be a story I can get involved in ( way to go Godard!!). The problem is Godard lets the movie run out of steam fast. The movie just seems to go on and on. He played up all his good ideas early on in the movie. After 30 maybe 40 minutes the whole film becomes boring. It loses it's purpose. Another problem with the movie is it's billed as a comedy\drama\romance\musical. It's ever so clearly none of these things. There's ONE song in the movie. It's not a very romantic seeing a woman trying to get her boyfriend's best friend into bed with her so she can have a baby. The movie isn't really funny either. Perhaps silly at times, but I myself was not laughing out loud from this movie. And the human element needed to be a drama is missing. We don't feel sorry for her, or any other character. We have no one to place our feelings with. I honestly don't know what "type" of film this is, all I do know is it's a bad one. I can be nice and state that the begining of the movie does have something going for it. It is "sweet" and has charm to it. But the movie is also billed as a tribute to old Hollywood style musicals. With that in mind I was waiting for something to happen. I was waiting for some big song and dance number. Something a bit relatable to the musicals of the 40's and 50's. Not Godard's worst film, not Godard's best film. An average film by anyone's standards, I don't care if Godard did direct it or not. ** 1\2 out of *****

The New Wave has been assessed in every intellectual capacity, and using every aesthetic criterion imaginable, but what makes the New Wave the most beguiling of cinematic phenomenon is that, in essence, it is a declaration of the love of cinema, through cinema itself.

AWOMAN IS A WOMAN ("Une Femme est une Femme"), Godard's third film, is as much a milestone as his own "Breathless" two years earlier. The basic premise is effectively that of a kitchen sink drama; an exotic dancer's (Anna Karina) whim to have a baby is met with consternation by her boyfriend (Jean-Claude Brialy), who is further dismayed when she asks a mutual friend (Jean-Paul Belmondo) to act as a surrogate father.

But the neo-realist background gives way to a film shot in bold, giddy colours and synchronised to Legrand's harebrained soundtrack - A WOMAN IS A WOMAN is best described as a musical with no singing. Actors frequently affect choreographed like stances and positions, their conversations punctuated with overtly dramatic interventions from Legrand's score. Our heroine expresses her desire to appear in an American musical, "with Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse", before adopting the relevant deportment for the approval of the audience, who are constantly consulted, bowed to, winked at and cavorted with by actors revelling in front of Godard's lens.

It is Godard's preference for the actor, in favour of the character, that makes A WOMAN IS A WOMAN an unparalleled experience in spontaneity. Filmed without a script, the actors wear their own clothes and concoct their own dialogue. Belmondo in particular frolics in the new-found fame gifted to him by Godard, expressing his wish to be present when "they're showing Breathless on television", and grinning at the audience as he namedrops new acquaintance Burt Lancaster. Later, he meets Jeanne Moreau in a bar, and asks her "how JULES ET JIM is coming along".

And it is with Truffaut's masterpiece that A WOMAN IS A WOMAN shares its essential raison d'être - the embodiment of femininity through a dazzling and formidable singularity, in this instance Anna Karina, whose whims, mood-swings and impetuosity are her right and privilege as a woman, as all women. "Women have a right to dodge issues, men don't", she tells Brialy, shortly after decreeing the stupidity of modern women, "these women who imitate men". A smile turns to a frown or a tear in the blink of an eye, and back again just as quickly, in an infectiously joyful and touching performance that is among cinema's most engaging. Karina, the new wave bride, worked with husband Godard on seven of his greatest films, but it is this wonderful and dizzying cinematic cocktail that is Godard's most translucent love poem to an extraordinary actress touched by an impulsive genius and unique beauty.

Along with JULES ET JIM, Jacques Demy's LOLA and Godard's own BAND A PART, A WOMAN IS A WOMAN is the most energizing and uplifting of all New Wave films. Ironic, gleeful and baffling, it is essentially summed up by Brialy himself, who towards the film's delightful conclusion declares: "I don't know if this is a comedy or a tragedy, but it's a masterpiece"

When you watch "A Woman is a Woman" you enter a cinematic fantasy world created by Godard, one of our most inventive filmmakers. It is a world filled with color, music, humor, heartbreak, fluid tracking shots, creative editing and groundbreaking audio tracks. When you watch films like Coppola's "One from the Heart" or the recent "Moulin Rouge" you can instantly see how much "A Woman is a Woman" influenced those films. The big difference is Godard's film was made in 1961! Years ahead of it's time. The acting from Brialy, Belmondo and Karina is nothing short of brilliant. They play off of each other so well and look like they're having a marvelous time thru-out the film. The music score by Michel Legrand is one of the highlights of the viewing experience. There are so many musical interludes that pay homage to Hollywood musicals and at moments grand opera. They're just breathtaking! But remember, this is Godard's version of "life as musical." The actors don't break into song at any given moment. The musical score accents their dialogue as if they were in a musical, operatic production. In reading the other reviews posted here I am shocked to see people write the film off as a piece of boring fluff. If you keep an open mind and allow yourself to enter the world created by Godard in "A Woman is a Woman" you will be greatly rewarded. You'll wish you could go back in time and be on the streets of Paris sharing Anna Karina's red umbrella!