Close Up

22 - 31 October 2021: A Woman Is a Woman

a-woman-is-a-woman-jean-luc-godard-3.jpg

A Woman Is a Woman
Jean-Luc Godard, 1961, 84 min
French with English subtitles

With A Woman Is a Woman, Jean-Luc Godard presents "a neorealist musical – that is, a contradiction in terms." A Woman Is a Woman is a sly, playful tribute to – and interrogation of – the American musical comedy, showcasing Godard’s signature wit and intellectual acumen. The film tells the story of exotic dancer Angéla (Anna Karina) as she attempts to have a child with her unwilling lover Émile (Jean-Claude Brialy). In the process, she finds herself torn between him and his best friend Alfred (Jean-Paul Belmondo). A dizzying compendium of colour, humour, and the music of renowned composer Michel Legrand, A Woman Is a Woman finds the young Godard at his warmest and most accessible, revelling in and scrutinizing the mechanics of his great obsession: the cinema.


Part of our tribute to Jean-Paul Belmondo