A Woman Is a Woman (Une femme est une femme) (1964)

86% of critics liked it
(29 reviews)
85% of users liked it
(8,146 ratings)

Director Jean-Luc Godard's deceptively blithe tribute to the musical comedy features Anna Karina as an exotic dancer who decides that it is time for her to have a child. When her lover refuses to commit to the decision, she turns her romantic attentions to his best friend. This being a Godard film,… More Director Jean-Luc Godard's deceptively blithe tribute to the musical comedy features Anna Karina as an exotic dancer who decides that it is time for her to have a child. When her lover refuses to commit to the decision, she turns her romantic attentions to his best friend. This being a Godard film, the straightforward story serves as a framework for improvisation and stylistic experimentation, allowing for odd interludes and unexpected images. Rather than the sometimes alienating, dense intellectualism of later Godard works, Une femme est une femme offers aesthetic pleasure through luxurious visuals and a charming musical score by Michel Legrand. Against this bright backdrop, Karina proves particularly fetching, capturing the film's frolicsome mood in an unforced manner. While not one of Godard's most groundbreaking or influential films, Une femme est une femme is one of his most appealing and pleasurable efforts. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Jean-Luc Godard
Genres: Musical & Performing Arts, Art House & International, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: Sep 18, 1964 Wide
On DVD: Jun 22, 2004
Studio: Rialto Pictures

Critic Reviews

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post
A charming document of the great filmmaker's fanciful yet serious dreams for cinema.
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
A Woman Is a Woman may not have the urgency or the contradictions that made early Godard an icon, but in its new incarnation, it takes us back to a time when he could still provide the makings of a good argument.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
The most playful film to come out of the French New Wave, it's also the last time Jean-Luc Godard appeared to have any fun.
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Une Femme Est une Femme moves us now because it's so playful and the players are so young.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
A Woman Is a Woman is slight and sometimes wearisome.
A.O. Scott, New York Times
Godard's whimsical celebration of romance, sentiment, musical comedy, color film, the city of Paris and the abundant charms of Ms. Karina herself, who at the time was also Madame Godard.
Dan Jardine, Cinemania
In it's (own very funny) way, the inverting bricolage syntax of A Woman is a Woman is as challenging to comprehend as the allusive consciousness stream of an Eliot poem
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It has a certain smugness about it that has always kept me at a distance from enjoying a Godard film.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
One of the most enjoyable of all the master's works.
, Time Out
The result is brash, defiant, gaudy and infinitely fragile.
Douglas Pratt, DVDLaser
it is best known as Godard’s ‘tribute to Hollywood musicals,’ because of some offhand references to such films and his sporadic application of music. It is a playful treat, though it has endured because of the strength of the plot and n
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
a colorful, widescreen poem to that great, dying American genre, the musical comedy
Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)
Godard remains stubbornly experimental, as in the defiant use of set, the chopped-up bits of Legrand's score looming up throughout; still it somehow charms.
Marty Mapes, Movie Habit
A good introduction to Godard; has his trademark anti-movie style without being inscrutable
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
You can sing and dance your way through life, but you'll have to do it naked, with men leering at you.
Matt Bailey, Not Coming to a Theater Near You
If Jacques Demy had been a sufferer of adult ADHD, he might have made a film very much like Jean-Luc Godard's A Woman is a Woman.
Marty Mapes, Movie Habit
One of Godard's more approachable and enjoyable films, a black-comic tribute to musical romance
David Elliott, San Diego Union-Tribune
A Woman Is a Woman is fluff, but quelle mousse.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
A playful experiment.

Read all 19 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Randy T

Sexy, charming and downright silly. Jean-Claude Brialy might be the only man on the planet who can repeatedly say "no" to Anna Karina and keep a straight face.
Stella D

the most charming godard i have yet seen. anna k. is too adorable
KJ P

This film takes you on a down-to-earth roller coaster ride as you watch to learn what the true meaning of love is. As Angela (a practising night club stripper) is unsure of her love for her current boyfriend (Emile), she believes the only way to finalize her love is to have a child… More
This film takes you on a down-to-earth roller coaster ride as you watch to learn what the true meaning of love is. As Angela (a practising night club stripper) is unsure of her love for her current boyfriend (Emile), she believes the only way to finalize her love is to have a child with him. He refuses and believes that they have all the time in the world. As she results to talking to Emile's best friend, she is now in the middle of a split decision between whether or not to love him. This film truly represents what a romance film needs to be. The title suits the film picture perfectly, the story is basic, yet beautifully told, the editing is unique, the comedy/tragedy shakespeare references are amazing and wonderfully interpreted, but the real thing that this has to make it such a classic, it that it has random moments of musical numbers that will make any audience member smile. This film feels like the best play ever made, placed on screen! "Une Femme Est Une Femme" is a masterpiece!
Anthony L

One you get past the ridiculous concept that there is a man alive who could resist the offer of sleeping with the beautiful Anna Karina, you will discover a rather silly but very funny film. Some of the lines are brilliant and among Godard's best in my opinion. Probably… More
One you get past the ridiculous concept that there is a man alive who could resist the offer of sleeping with the beautiful Anna Karina, you will discover a rather silly but very funny film. Some of the lines are brilliant and among Godard's best in my opinion. Probably Godard's most easy to watch film after Breathless and a good starting point for the curious.
Lorenzo v

"We should boycott women who don't cry." Angela,a striptease artist, wants to have a baby and tries to persuade her boyfriend Emile to go along with the idea. Emile will have none of it so she goes after Emile's friend Alfred.… More
"We should boycott women who don't cry." Angela,a striptease artist, wants to have a baby and tries to persuade her boyfriend Emile to go along with the idea. Emile will have none of it so she goes after Emile's friend Alfred. <center>REVIEW</center> Make no mistake about it, A Woman is a Woman is still very much an experimental Godard film; one that plays with sound effects and visual images that accentuate the characters' emotions. Still, it feels fresh and vivid; a rare thing indeed in today's movies. The beautiful and vixen-like Anna Karina plays Angela, a bored stripper who does her work, cooks for her boyfriend, but ultimately dreams of having a baby. Her boyfriend, played by the impossibly straight and upright Jean-Claude Brialy, refuses although we are not sure exactly why. The main theme in this story that I think most people might miss is that Godard is showing us a couple that really is firmly rooted in their loyalty to one another. Other directors might consider having the woman go off to look for other men to get her pregnant immediately, and indeed Angela does talk about this. However, whenever she and Emile seem to get angry, they either make up or settle the dispute with comedic efforts. This gives way for Godard to experiment with some very clever and original ideas. The soundtrack is constantly being interrupted either by dialog or action. It seems annoying at first but it soon becomes clear that Godard is using it to make obvious the feeling and emotions of the characters since they can be a little cloudy. He also fiddles around with breaking the fourth wall, as well as a few comedic scenes between Karina and Brialy that sparkle and make us smile. As I said before, this is a fine film if only because it so defies that which we are used to today. Angela is a stripper and this movie is about pregnancy, yet there is hardly any nudity and no sex at all. This just proves that Godard was capable of getting the point across without consenting to visual effects. He truly is an original artist and auteur. Having seen three of his films, I have seen his style and vision for cinema. It is as personal as Hitchcock, Kubrick or Scorsese. And with Karina in front of the camera, everything shines and glimmers.
danny d

this experimental early godard film comes together as an unorthodox but entirely brilliant romance. an early film for the absolutely stunning anna karina, the film also features a relaxed but charasmatic performance by belmondo. the films quirks worked for me each step of the way,… More
this experimental early godard film comes together as an unorthodox but entirely brilliant romance. an early film for the absolutely stunning anna karina, the film also features a relaxed but charasmatic performance by belmondo. the films quirks worked for me each step of the way, and specifically the sequence where our battling lovers communicate to each other through book titles hit me right in the heart. charming and engaging, godards dialogue is as sharp as ever. a brilliant love story.
Elvira B

With Une Femme est Une Femme, Jean Luc Godard makes it clear to us that not only does he really have a heart, he can also make a breezy comedy with intelligence and style. This is his take on Hollywood musicals, which is not the same as an imitation of Hollywood musicals,… More
With Une Femme est Une Femme, Jean Luc Godard makes it clear to us that not only does he really have a heart, he can also make a breezy comedy with intelligence and style. This is his take on Hollywood musicals, which is not the same as an imitation of Hollywood musicals, quite the contrary; Godard brings out what can be humorous and graceful about the musical paradigm, as well as its circumstancial awkwardness and irony. He delves into the clichés and re-creates them: the result is a charming, witty, film, a musical that is not quite one, but has all the color, the style, and the quirkiness. Anna Karina plays the lovely Angela, a stripper. She is very much in love with Emile (Jean-Claude Brialy), with whom she lives. Emile's friend, Albert (Jean Paul Belmondo), is in love with Angela. She knows this, and although the idea mildly appeals to her, she stays strongly faithful to Emile. However, one day, Angela proposes to Emile that they have a baby. Emile makes fun of her, argues with her, and ignores her. Angela is deeply frustrated, torn by the impossibility of reconciling Emile's love with his negative to having a child with her, so she playfully suggests she'll simply ask the first man she sees. Emile quickly tells her that she should ask Albert, who's very much up to it... and Angela is faced with a predicament -sad, absurd, and funny at the same time-: if Albert would like to have a baby with her, perhaps she should love him, and not Emile. How can Emile love her more than Albert? Angela asks Emile a thousand times whether he loves her, and has a hard time believing his YES. This is a rather serious argument. Out of context, Angela's frustration would be one of the heaviest a woman in a relationship could ever face, for it would be unavoidable for her to re-evaluate it all in a painful process. However, this is a film. Godard not only reaffirms with intertitles and innuendoes that this love triangle is truly filled with love -even if disorderly- and no one is ever left unprotected, it also had me smiling and eventually laughing. Godard's three warm-hearted characters light up the film with their comedic timing, their wit, their facial expressions, and their physicality. Une Femme est Une Femme is not the cerebral comedy some would expect from Godard... in fact, it relies much more on body language and sentiment than dialogue to create humor, and this makes it a very unique film. In his personal approach to the Hollywood musical, Godard also plays with the idea of the meta-musical. Remember Audrey Hepburn dancing in a night club, performing a musical number which is itself part of a musical film, and both "performances" exist knowledgeably in their correspondent space and time? Godard makes Anna Karina an exotic dancer for this purpose, and she twice performs her routine in the film, for her clients and for us. She had a thin, sparkling voice that complements her song perfectly. The music itself is employed in a very idiosyncratic way: for example, it suddenly bursts out and quickly goes silent, almost as it would in a radio show. When it is possible to fully appreciate it, the prolific (of Parapluies de Cherbourg and Demoiselles de Rochefort fame) Michel Legrand's beautiful score soars. Of course, no 60s musical would be complete without quirky editing, including transitions and inserted vignettes. Especially not if it's a Godard musical. Another aspect, and one of the most memorable, of Une Femme est Une Femme is the use of color: bright blue, red, pink, purple and white overflow in the sets, and above all in Anna Karina's brash wardrobe. Styllistically, and thanks to Raoul Coutard's cinematography, color is a fundamental element in the film; I would say it transcends its association with the "musical" genre and goes on to become the visual fingerprint of a decade. Une Femme est Une Femme is a film to be enjoyed with a light spirit and a willingness to surrender and let yourself be charmed. It is involving and beautiful, constantly inventive, and honest. Godard's love story is very much in the now, in the context of a blooming sexual liberation, but it never loses touch with its leit motif: Angela, a woman, and her wish to be loved and considered as she is and not in spite of what she is or wants, craving love and committment in spite of the times.
E.J. B

Jean-Luc Godard's second feature film is a wonderfully refreshing romantic comedy. Its style is unique, containing multiple jump cuts, and scenes that may or may not be describing a character's subconscious. It is supposed to be a musical, but it isn't a musical in… More
Jean-Luc Godard's second feature film is a wonderfully refreshing romantic comedy. Its style is unique, containing multiple jump cuts, and scenes that may or may not be describing a character's subconscious. It is supposed to be a musical, but it isn't a musical in the traditional sense of the word. Music comes in brief, loud bursts, or is silenced so that the viewer pays more attention to the lyrics being sung. The best way to view A Woman is a Woman is to surrender yourself to the film, and the quirkiness of the characters. It would be hard not to enjoy this completely nutty but tenderly sweet piece of art. Anna Karina plays Angela, a stripper torn between two men, Emile and Alfred. She loves Emile more. One day she comes home and tells Emile she wants a baby. Emile thinks it's a bad idea, however, Alfred is more than willing to do the job. Such becomes a comedy that celebrates womanhood. In a sense, it is a feminist film that refutes the idea that women have to act like men to become independent. There is a line sung by Angela that goes: "I am not a good girl. I am very cruel. But men don't get mad because I'm very beautiful." The film shows how men can objectify women, as they are more so concerned with the way she looks as opposed to connecting with her on any level above the physical. Emile claims he loves her, and I think Angela spends the majority of the movie asking him to convince her that he really does love her. All in all, a masterpiece! A beautiful, sweet romantic film that shows Godard as a master of technique and narrative.
Michael G

Musicals are more enjoyable in a foreign language. Anna Karina doesn't hurt either.
Eric B

What a charming, effervescent film. The camera is in love with Anna Karina, and so is the viewer. The story of a vulnerable young woman (if only strippers were *really* this beautiful) hoping for a baby and being torn between two suitors is nothing notable. But Godard's unique,… More
What a charming, effervescent film. The camera is in love with Anna Karina, and so is the viewer. The story of a vulnerable young woman (if only strippers were *really* this beautiful) hoping for a baby and being torn between two suitors is nothing notable. But Godard's unique, self-reflexive direction puts an exciting spin on the tale. Michel Legrand's score bursts in and out like a needle dropping on a record. Actors randomly smile at the camera. A main character has the last name Lubitsch. In-jokes are dropped about the contemporary "Shoot the Piano Player," "Breathless" and "Jules & Jim" (Jeanne Moreau even makes a brief cameo). Godard also indulges a whimsical sight gag now and then, such as a stripper's magic "changing booth" and an adorable throwaway bit about flipping an egg in a skillet. Don't fail to enjoy the couple who's locked in a kiss outside Angela's apartment throughout the entire film. And the argument delivered through book covers is a simply brilliant idea.
Tom S

It's just a bunch of cutesy little tricks. But as far as cutesy little tricks go, this was a pretty fun bunch.
Lauren D

I really liked it. It was funny and it was fun. The only Godard I've seen prior to this was Alphaville, which I hated. But if more of his movies are like this, I'm definitely interested in seeing more. It didn't take itself too seriously. I really liked Brialy,… More
I really liked it. It was funny and it was fun. The only Godard I've seen prior to this was Alphaville, which I hated. But if more of his movies are like this, I'm definitely interested in seeing more. It didn't take itself too seriously. I really liked Brialy, despite Belmondo being the more popular actor.
Emily B

Godard's homage to the Hollywood musical is just delightful. Probably Godard's funniest film, filled with cinematic tricks and Nouvelle Vague in jokes, I had a smile on my face throughout the whole film. The childlike trio of Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna… More
Godard's homage to the Hollywood musical is just delightful. Probably Godard's funniest film, filled with cinematic tricks and Nouvelle Vague in jokes, I had a smile on my face throughout the whole film. The childlike trio of Jean-Claude Brialy, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina are great to watch, what with Belmondo's cheeky grin and Karina at her cutest. Not to forget the wonderful colours and Michel Legrand score, this is simply a joy.
Quinto W

A remarkable achievement in every single aspect of filmmaking. Full with vibrant colors, dazzling music and funny, realistic performances. A truly original point of view and a fascinating style to tell it.