A Woman is a Woman

TITLE/YEAR:

A Woman is a Woman (1961)

DIRECTOR:

Jean-Luc Godard/France/1930

BUDGET:

$160,000 (estimated)

GROSS:

$100,655

SYNOPSIS:

A woman is desperate to become a mother. Her boyfriend doesn’t want a baby so he suggests his best friend to impregnate her. Things become more complicated when she & the best friend start to develop feelings for one another.

NARRATIVE & VISUAL KEYWORDS:

Comedy, Stripper, Books, Pregnancy

CHARACTERIZATION & DIALOGUE:

Angela wants a baby but her boyfriend Emile doesn’t. After much badgering from Angela, Emile suggests his friend, Alfred, impregnate her. But what happens when Angela & Emile start to fall for each other?

CAMERA/LIGHTING/EDITING TECHNIQUE:

There seemed to be some points where the camera was handheld as it bounced around a lot. There was also a bit of dollying & panning with the actors. Lighting seemed to be fairly even & good though I found a couple of points where there seemed to be too much light entering the lens. The edit was smooth though I found the points where the music was cut out to be a bit distracting as it sounded as if there was a technical problem.

POLITICAL/SOCIAL COMMENTARY:

I didn’t notice much of a political statement but the director seems to make a social statement pointing out that we should be happy with what we’ve got. He also points at the fact that people get a little extreme when they’re upset like the point when Emile & Angela are mad & not talking to each other so they went from bookshelf to bookshelf grabbing books so they could cover up parts of the title to say what they wanted to say.

HISTORICAL RELEVANCE/RECOGNITION:

Won a Silver Berlin Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for Best Actress & Special Prize. Nominated for Golden Berlin Bear

NOTABLE COLLABORATION:

None.

RANDOM FACT:

This was Jean-Luc Godard’s first film in color.

1.

2. The film seems to really take a bold step against traditional romantic commitment. This would have been a time when getting married before starting a family would have been the right way for a relationship to progress. Instead we have the character Angela wanting a baby with her boyfriend & not at all concerned about whether or not she’s married. Then when the boyfriend doesn’t want a baby, he sends her to his best friend to impregnate her, which would go against a traditional romantic relationship as well as most religions.

3.  I would say that Jean-Luc Godard is closest to his character Angela. He just keeps going & doesn’t let anybody get him down despite numerous of his films being refused to be shown. He must have a light take on society to not let his rejections (both from producers & general public) get him down. It’s probably a better trait to have in this industry.


The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 22 Jan. 2012. <http://www.imdb.com>. 
Box Office Mojo. Web. 22 Jan. 2012. <http://boxofficemojo.com/>