A Woman is a Woman
(Une femme est une femme)
With Anna Karina, Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Paul Belmondo.
France/Italy, 1961, 35mm, color, 84 min.
French with English subtitles.
“I want to be in a musical with Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly... choreography by Bob Fosse!” declares Anna Karina, and she almost gets her wish in this first color film by then-husband Jean-Luc Godard. Karina’s Angela is an afternoon stripper in the sleazy Zodiac Club who yearns for motherhood “just because.” Although live-in boyfriend Jean-Claude Brialy “isn’t ready yet,” hanger-on Jean-Paul Belmondo (as “Alfred Lubitsch”) is more than happy to help out. Awash in oddball musical moments and Michel Legrand’s thundering score, the film is also filled with self-referential in-jokes, including Belmondo not wanting to miss Breathless on TV and Jeanne Moreau being asked about the progress of Jules and Jim. This jeu d’esprit of the New Wave won a jury prize from the Berlin festival for its “originality, youth, audacity, and impertinence,” while the enchanting Karina (in her first major role) was named Best Actress.