Une femme est une femme

Godard’s colourful and exuberant tribute to the Hollywood musical, with Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Jean-Claude Brialy.

Posited by its director as “a neorealist musical—that is, a contradiction in terms, ” Une Femme est Une Femme finds Jean Luc-Godard at his most daring and playful, slyly honouring and subverting the norms of the Hollywood musical. It tells the story of exotic dancer Angéla (Karina) as she attempts to convince her unwilling lover Émile (Brialy) to father a child with her, while also flirting with his best friend Alfred (Belmondo).

For this 1961 feature Godard adopted some significant technological developments, employing sync sound, colour and widescreen for the first time. The director’s enthusiasm for both form and content is self-evident, making this one of Godard’s most vibrant pictures, teeming with verve and impertinence, lavishly photographed by Raoul Coutard and with one of composer Michel Legrand’s great scores.