Une Femme est Une Femme (1961) • Dir: Jean Luc Godard

"A Woman Is A Woman" is sometimes described as a tribute to the American Musical. While I agree that is an element within the film, I don't feel that statement is accurate. There are a few scenes that definitely fit into this general statement, however, the film as a whole sticks out as one of the more playful French New Wave films that I've seen. While I've seen the fast cuts, the illogical editing and the evidental self referentialism in other works. Particularly Godard's other classics, Breathless and Pierrot Le Fou, however, here it feels more childlike and for the sake of enjoyment on the part of the filmmakers and actors, than to be "experimental." Some of these approaches seem to be brought to new heights. The awareness of other films in particular sticks out as characters from Jules et Jim and Shoot the Piano Player show up in scenes essentially to comment on those films.

A large part of the charm comes from Anna Karina's engaging portrayal of Angela. The exotic dancer at the center of the plot. Well, what plot there is. The film isn't really held together by a plot so much as a series of vignettes connected by characters who's motivations remain the same. If there is an arc to mention, it's quite a shallow arc. But despite that, it kept me on board enjoying how the characters interacted and reacted to each other. Karina almost felt like the predicessor of the quirky pixie indie movie love interest that has been so played out in the last 10 - 15 years (I'm looking at you Zooey Deschanel and Natalie Portman), but with more natural character traits, even as she reacts unnaturally to the world around her. When asked what she wants and she replies that she wants to be in a musical, followed by fast cuts of Karina and Jean - Paul Belmondo striking poses between cuts. In these fast moments as they switch from pose to pose, the characters are essentially aware of the editing. We know that characters have been aware of the audience, or the camera, or that they're in a film, but in this case they're aware of the editing. That's where the genuis lied for me, in the awareness of the editing and the fun that everyone could be having if only they were in this film along with Karina.