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A Woman Is a Woman

Released Sep 6, 1961 1h 23m Comedy Drama Romance List
Tomatometer 2 Reviews 69% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Longing for a baby, a stripper (Anna Karina) pursues another man (Jean-Paul Belmondo) in order to make her boyfriend (Jean-Claude Brialy) jealous.

Critics Reviews

View All (2) Critics Reviews
Hector A. Gonzalez InSession Film The most important aspect of A Woman is a Woman receiving a restoration is how modern audiences can now have a proper glimpse and think about its notions of gender roles and relationships across the ages presented in the film. Rated: A Aug 15, 2024 Full Review Sean Axmaker Stream on Demand [Jean-Luc] Godard’s third feature is a bizarro New Wave musical done up with Godard’s usual jagged style and offbeat humor. Apr 14, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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David F It's stylish, arch, and mannered, a very sophisticated comedy with a few laughs that aims to make you think. The film techniques here really come between the viewer and the story and characters, and I think they're meant to, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. The movie depicts a squabble between a couple over whether to have a child, and in spite of the self-conscious artistry, it does have quite a bit of insight into human behaviour. Not the best Godard film, but a Godard film nevertheless. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 08/24/23 Full Review Fra B This is pure unleashed Godard; it's a lot of fun for reasons that you wouldn't expect could be fun, it mostly makes no sense (which is what I want to see from Godard), But on Karina's face you can see that she takes the argument very seriously (which probably means she was told to do so) and that is good... I think, I don't know, who can tell! all I know is that I wanted good images and I got good images, thanks Godard! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/07/21 Full Review Audience Member One, if not the most, of Godard chraming love letters to cinema. No one should miss it. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member There’s no denying that Jean-Luc Godard has a particular style to his films, and he makes truly bold choices. A Woman is a Woman shows just how wacky his film-making can be. At times it drives me nuts, and then other times I love it. I was worried by his choice in an early scene to drop out the accompaniment whenever our main character is singing in the club, leaving her to struggle through the song a capella, and then bringing the music back up as soon as she stops. It sounded awkward, and off-putting. But then he’d make hilarious choices like having the characters break the fourth wall all the time and, in one of the greatest scenes, having lovers get into a silent argument by just showing one another insulting book titles. I even sensed some inside jokes that I would like to explore further, because I didn’t totally understand them. There isn’t a ton of story in A Woman is a Woman, as it all seems to boil down to one young woman’s desperation to have a baby. It’s probably good that the movie was so simple, though, because Godard doesn’t take much time to tell this story in a traditional narrative way. He’s so busy surprising you with strange shot selection and unusual edits, that no one has time for details like exposition or other normal movie things. Done in the wrong way this would probably drive me nuts, but I was having so much fun with A Woman is a Woman that I didn’t mind one bit. At times things got so goofy that I felt like I was watching a Mel Brooks parody film, and I was eating that stuff up. The resolution of the story is kind of stupid, and I can’t say I was a huge fan of how these people handled their relationship, but I had so many laughs getting to that point that I didn’t care. It’s a film I’d actually want to watch again sometime, which I don’t often say about French New Wave films. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/26/20 Full Review Read all reviews
A Woman Is a Woman

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Longing for a baby, a stripper (Anna Karina) pursues another man (Jean-Paul Belmondo) in order to make her boyfriend (Jean-Claude Brialy) jealous.
Director
Jean-Luc Godard
Producer
Georges de Beauregard, Carlo Ponti
Screenwriter
Geneviève Cluny, Jean-Luc Godard
Distributor
Rialto Pictures
Genre
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 6, 1961, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 1, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA)
$99.7K
Runtime
1h 23m