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A Woman Is a Woman Movie Review Summary

Actors: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anna Karina

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of A Woman Is a Woman


A young striptease artist wants to have a child, but her boyfriend doesn't want her to get pregnant -- so, she asks his best friend to help her in her goal. Angela, the main character of A Woman Is a Woman, is a young and beautiful striptease artist who wants more than anything to have a child. However, her boyfriend Emile refuses to have a child with her. Meanwhile, his best friend, Alfred, is in love with Angela and pursues her. Angela and Emile fight (in a memorable scene where they do so silently, finding their insults in books all over their house), leading her to give in to Alfred's pursuits. Emile eventually finds out, and realizing that the matter is so important to her, they make up (and it is implied that he is willing to reconsider his position on having a child). The film is something of an homage to the American musical genre; there are several musical numbers throughout the film, and Anna Karina sings all of her own songs for the soundtrack. However, in keeping with Godard's distinctive style, it is a somewhat disjointed story, at times feels quite improvisational, and the fourth wall is often broken -- in other words, there are clear references to genre and style conventions that are very much established, but the actual structure of the story is often disjointed in a way that is more in keeping with French New Wave filmmaking. Thus, it could be helpful to think of the plot of the story in terms of one main arc (as described above) with a lot of different subplots that don't necessarily relate linearly, but add to the theme or give more nods to the genres the film seems to be referencing.
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Best part of story, including ending: I thought the film was absolutely adorable. Anna Karina is very charming, and the story gets at some truths at the differences between men and women. This is also Godard's first film in color, and the vibrance of the cinematography really shines here.

Best scene in story: The scene where Anna and Emile fight using quotes from books rather than simply yelling at each other is a particularly memorable and strong one; it is a very whimsical idea to have a fight entirely told in quotes, but it also makes the audience think -- it is probably possible to have an entire fight just using lines in books, but it may be more complicated than it looks!

Opinion about the main character: Angela is a charming character who quickly gained my attention as well as my empathy. Her desire is clear almost immediately -- she wants to be a mother -- and to see her conflict with her boyfriend over this can definitely garner the audience's sympathy. She also is unusually resourceful in the way that she chooses to get her boyfriend to take her seriously (albeit somewhat unrealistic -- but that goes with the territory with French New Wave film), which makes her interesting to watch.

The review of this Movie prepared by Caroline Fraissinet a Level 1 Blue Jay scholar

Script Analysis of A Woman Is a Woman

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Plot & Themes

Time/era of movie:    -   1960's-1970's Romance/Love/Hugging    -   Yes Unmarried Love Triangle?    -   Yes

Main Character

Identity:    -   Female Profession/status:    -   dancer Age:    -   20's-30's Ethnicity/Nationality    -   French

Setting

Europe    -   Yes European country:    -   France

Writing Style

Accounts of torture and death?    -   no torture/death Sex/nudity in movie?    -   Yes What kind of sex:    -   vague references only    -   kissing    -   actual description of sex    -   seeing breasts    -   seeing nude female butt Any profanity?    -   Some foul language If lots of song/dance...    -   lot of singing

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