Opiniones de usuarios

This earns a high rating simply for the gritty, persuasive performance from it's star, Isabelle Huppert, who is called upon to be a mother and an abortionist, to be a lover and a murderer, to be a free spirit and a prisoner of Nazi tyranny; Huppert may never gain your sympathy, and doesn't play for it, but she should gain your understanding as she plays a true-to-life story of a woman severely punished by the French government for a woman's crime that the dominant culture can not countenance because of the political atmosphere at the time--all this, and it's a gripping story,too--but not at all a cheerer-upper.

When you have finished watching this film, you may find Huppert's character hasn't quite finished with you, an observant, quiet reminder of the consequences of our actions. Hers is a haunting performance.

With cool detachment and a subtle touch of horror, Claude Chabrol dissects the story of a woman who was guillotined during the Nazi occupation of France. One of his strengths as a director is that he allows the movie goer to form his/her own thoughts and opinions about the issues at hand. He is not a proselytizer.

The film covers a lot of ground: illegal abortion, collaborating with the enemy, parenting, marital communication, greed and a slew of other human weaknesses. All of this against the backdrop of an occupied France, a country who witnessed the horrors of WWI and never fully recovered, and whose WWII soul (what is left of it) has been torn apart.

Isabelle Huppert does a fine job interpreting Marie LaTour, the woman in question. Marie is not the most sympathetic of characters. In fact, most of the major characters are not "sympathique".(My favorite character is the prostitute Lulu, acted by Marie Trintignant.)

All in all a well directed, well structured film about a tragic period in the lives of the French people. But you be the judge.

Trivia: "Vera Drake" and "L'Affaire de Femmes" both begin in apartments which have the the same god awful green walls.

Isabelle Huppert portrays an uneducated but self-reliant wartime mother of two, who almost ruthlessly assumes the traditional male role of family breadwinner by helping (to use an old euphemism) young girls 'in trouble'. The film isn't exactly impartial in its attitude toward the opposite sex, but don't me misled by the somewhat presumptuous title: it isn't strictly a story for women, and despite the vocation of its heroine has little to say about the volatile issue of abortion. The focus is more on the plight of women as second-class citizens, forced by necessity to fend for themselves (and rely on each other) while their men are away playing soldiers. It tells a complex story very simply, avoiding any soapbox grandstanding but allowing Huppert a chance to invest her character with plenty of gender-specific spleen. The final impact is undeniable: it's an often powerful experience, likely to stir up plenty of talk and emotion.

'Une affaire de femmes' (the English distribution title was 'Story of Women'), Claude Chabrol's 1988 film gives Isabelle Huppert the opportunity to create one of the most memorable roles of a formidable career. Chabrol, the director about whom Huppert would posthumously say that he filmed her like a father, sets his drama in the period of World War II and the occupation, bringing to screen the biography of the last woman to be sentenced to death and executed in the history of France. The charge was the practice of illegal abortions, and the exemplary punishment was a consequence of the moral and national decay of the Vichy collaborationist regime. The pro-life vs. Pro-choice are still current in many countries of the world today (not in France), but that is not the main theme of the film. In fact, Chabrol avoids any moral judgment on one side or the other of this dispute. His target is - as in many of his other films - the French bourgeoisie during the war, in one of the most abysmal periods of its history, a period marked by collaboration, corruption, immorality and hypocrisy.

The story takes place in the months and the first years after the defeat of France, the occupation of part of the country's territory and the installation in Vichy of a collaborationist government under the leadership of Marshal Petain. Marie is one of many young women left behind alone with two children to care for after her husband leaves for war. She is a simple woman living in a provincial town whose dreams of becoming a singer or even of leading a normal life have been dashed by the war. Somewhat by chance, while helping a neighbor friend, she discovers her ability to perform abortions. The return of her husband does not improve the family situation, on the contrary. Paul, traumatized by the war, becomes an extra burden, and any spark of love that may have existed between the two is now extinguished. Marie decides to turn her talent for helping other women into a source of income. There is no shortage of opportunities. Many women left alone are forced to look for support among occupiers or collaborators, and the children resulting from these relationships are unwanted burdens and risk compromising the mothers morally and socially. Marie's business prospers, the woman begins enjoy her better life, she also takes a lover, while asking herself few questions about what she is doing. However, the jealous husband does not accept the situation.

Isabelle Huppert is perfect in such roles, where facts are ambiguous and feelings repressed. Neither the screenwriters nor the director insist on making any moral judgment about the woman's actions. When she is caught, tried and condemned by a system that wants to make her a punishable example of immorality, the filmmakers' compassion seems to shift more towards the children left behind and destined to remain motherless. Huppert's Marie combines innocence with carelessness, love for children with a desire to live her life at all costs. It's a complex and interesting character, one of the best roles of his career. François Cluzet is her acting partner as the husband whose deeds as a sort of catalyst for the woman's downfall. As for Chabrol, during this period he had filtered and decanted all the lessons of New Wave cinema and had reached a remarkable efficiency and acuity of his means of expression - both in writing the story (inspired by a book by Francis Szpiner - jurist and politician, nowadays mayor of a Parisian arrondissement) but also in working with the camera. With restraint and without pathos, 'Une affaire de femmes' is one of the harshest cinematic indictments of French collaborationism and a statement of compassion for its victims.

This is a true story and the heroine is not unlike Louis Malle's hero "Lacombe Lucien".They are too coarse,too immature to realize what they are doing.Lucien could have opted for the Resistance,but he's deemed too stupid by the schoolteacher and he winds up in Collaboration.Chabrol's heroine only wants to "help" her neighbors before she realizes she can earn a lot of dough with abortion.Chabrol watches his character as an entomologist,as she makes her way through those troubled times:the world has gone mad,and anyway is abortion worse than what the authorities are doing with the Jews ?Maréchal Petain's France was so humiliated that it tried to make up with it by focusing on "morality".

The heroine could make also think of Violette Nozières,another Chabrol movie which also featured Huppert.And she's also akin to Sandrine Bonnaire's character in "la cérémonie".All are women overtaken by events,all are victims of a well-meaning society,Chabrol's trademark. "Une affaire de femmes" is certainly a good work although it lacks the sweep and the directing innovations of his late sixties/early seventies classics.

Though I had owned this on VHS (recorded off French TV), I only opted to check it out now – after acquiring the film in a version accompanied by English subtitles, on the occasion of its director's birthday. While not a typical effort (being a period melodrama and based on fact to boot), in retrospect, it is justly considered among Chabrol's finest.

Star Isabelle Huppert (in one of her best performances, playing an essentially unsympathetic if pitiable type) received the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival for her work here. Interestingly, I would 'meet' Chabrol there in 2004 where the winning film that year happened to deal with the exact same subject as STORY OF WOMEN – the controversy regarding the practice of abortion, i.e. Mike Leigh's VERA DRAKE! Co-star Francois Cluzet, who acts pretty much as second-fiddle to Huppert in this case, would eventually come into his own under Chabrol's guidance in the similarly excellent L'ENFER (1994). The film, however, also provides a notable showcase for Marie Trintignant in the role of Huppert's prostitute friend; again, the actress would subsequently be promoted to lead status for the same director's BETTY (1992), which I have just watched and reviewed.

STORY OF WOMEN, then, makes for compelling viewing in several different keys: as a character study (Huppert wants to be a singer, refuses to sleep with her ex-P.O.W. husband but then takes a much younger lover, of course offers her services to girls 'in trouble' and ultimately renounces her faith while in prison), as a look at war-torn France (though the Nazis are hardly ever in the foreground, the hardships endured by the locals obviously have a lot to do with how they are 'forced' to behave) and as a critique, in the vein of Costa-Gavras' movies, of the justice system (there is no doubt Huppert was at fault but the punishment meted out, to set an example and uphold the country's moral rectitude to counter the dishonor of occupation, was too extreme). Oddly enough, once the husband exposes her to the authorities for rather selfish reasons to begin with, he basically exits the picture and is never shown feeling any kind of remorse.

For the record, Chabrol had already treated a cause célèbre in VIOLETTE NOZIERE (1978; which I will get to soon in my ongoing marathon, since I am actually approaching it in reverse chronological order!) and would do so again in the recent A GIRL CUT IN TWO (2007; that I have already viewed and commented upon).

I'd like to focus on this film as a French film, not of the United States. If one has seen "La Chagrin et la Pitie," then one knows the legacy of this film. France was not perfect during WWII. Not everyone in France was part of the resistance, mainly, they were trying to survive. I think its an amazing film that sheds light on a crucial point in French history. Yes, it's about abortion and Chabrol does a great job ensuring his abortionist is less than perfect. That's a wonderful point he makes, that no one is perfect, not even the moral majority of the government. But, I come away from this film with the same questions that I get from "Lacombe, Lucien," which are: 'what would I have done?' And, please, don't Monday morning quarterback World War II.

Marie Latour, a woman of limited schooling, raises two children in a ratty flat during World War II in occupied France. In 1941, her husband Paul returns from German captivity, too weak to hold a job. Marie discovers she can make money performing abortions, using a soapy water douche. Many of her clients are knocked up by occupying Germans.

The film is based on the true story of Marie-Louise Giraud, guillotined on July 30, 1943, for having performed 27 abortions in the Cherbourg area, and oddly enough has been embraced by John Waters. Waters is typically known more for endorsing "Christmas Evil" than French cinema, but this just goes to show how diverse his love is.

I find it quite interesting that the French women are getting pregnant by German soldiers. While this is a frequent consequence of war (though hopefully diminishing), and virtually created modern Sicily, it is a rare thing to see it show up in a film. For that, I applaud them.

Definitely one of director Claude Chabrol's best films, if not his best.

It is based upon a true story out of Nazi occupied France, and stars the incredible Isabelle Huppert (The Piano Teacher, 8 Women). She is supported by Marie Trintignant (Harrison's Flowers), who had her career cut short by an untimely death.

Huppert finds a way to feed her family. She performs abortions and rents out rooms to prostitutes. Everything seems to be going well for her, but her husband is not happy about the fact that he hasn't had any in 10 years, and she now has a lover - he turns her in.

France is now rid of the Germans and is trying to restore her morality. Unfortunately, Marie to be made an example.

Huppert was great, and Trintigant was also very good.

As a great admirer of Chabrol's 'Helene cycle' of the late 60's and early 70's I approached this film with some trepidation, having been disappointed by some of his more recent work.

However I was pleasantly surprised, the film was nicely scripted and acted, period detail good and the whole felt taut and unsentimental. A previous reviewer seems surprised that Chabrol remains balanced in his views,however Chabrol often refuses to take sides and allows the viewer a freedom (almost unknown in moralising modern films)to make up their own mind. One only has to view the excellent 'Nada' to appreciate this.

I thought Isabelle Huppert was better here than in any other role i've seen her, partly because she managed to drop the somewhat smug persona she seems to bring to her roles. (yes i'm not a fan and wish Chabrol would turn his attention elsewhere). She played the central character as both cynical and devious, charmingly naive vindictive and finally empty and self loathing. A real acting masterclass.

Much as I enjoyed this film though it left me rather empty at the end, indeed there really was little I cared about, both in terms of character and plot. All the usual questions one feels need answering were absent, the curious unease and ambiguity gone. The Chabrol appeared to be absent from this nevertheless efficient and entertaining Claude Chabrol film.

Claude Chabrol's "Une affaire de femmes" takes us back to the challenging times of World War II, exploring the life of Marie, portrayed with depth and complexity by Isabelle Huppert. Set against the backdrop of a war-torn France, the film delves into the moral intricacies of survival, collaboration, and the consequences of one woman's choices.

The narrative unfolds as Marie, left alone with her two children during the wartime, faces the grim reality of a defeated nation. Huppert's performance brings a nuanced portrayal of Marie as she navigates through a tumultuous period, discovering her unexpected skill in performing abortions, a secret source of income during these dire times.

The film refrains from passing moral judgment on Marie's actions, leaving room for the audience to grapple with the ethical complexities of her decisions. François Cluzet complements Huppert's portrayal with his role as Marie's husband, whose jealousy and actions set the stage for the unfolding tragedy.

Chabrol, a master of suspense and a seasoned storyteller, weaves a narrative that transcends the specifics of its wartime setting. The movie serves as a poignant commentary on the broader themes of collaboration, morality, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

"Une affaire de femmes" captures the essence of Claude Chabrol's ability to dissect societal norms and individual choices. The film, although set against the backdrop of WWII, resonates with timeless themes, leaving the audience with much to contemplate. Huppert's compelling performance, supported by a strong cast, makes this film a standout in Chabrol's body of work.

Marie (Isabelle Huppert) helps women have abortions in Nazi-occupied France, which turns out to be an unexpected income. However, she was arrested and sentenced to death by the time's reactionary government, looking for public examples to give to the nation.

Marie Latour (in reality her real name was Marie-Louise Giraud), was the last woman to be guillotined in France. The film tells this tragic story with dry realism, both in terms of the dialogues and the era's accurate reconstruction.

The film was in competion at the Italian 1988 Venice Film Festival. Isabelle Huppert won the Coppa Volpi award for best female interpretation, while outside conservative Catholic associations clamoured for the film to be withdrawn from distribution, for Marie's desperate prayer before being beheaded, accused by them fanatic groups to be 'blasphemous'. The film was released anyway.

Usually, a film with a title like this would take a sentimental approach to display the hardships of the widely-perceived inferior sex in the world, or, quoting the overused phrase from the media; how women can't have it all. In contrast, Chabrol brings the truthful reality of how women precisely can be a lot of things at once, have contradicting traits even, that doesn't make them worth less than anyone because that's what a human being essentially is. Flawed, layered, soul-searching, can't be defined as a single thing, and can be fiercely ambitious in achieving what they want. Those things should be allowed for anyone on this earth regardless of their gender and that is exactly what Isabelle Huppert did in this film. She gave depth to Marie that sends the audience riding a roller coaster with her life journey, sometimes you root for her while other times you questioned her. But that should be okay because women can't be defined by a single thing, nor should be pitied at all times. What we should always do is support women and believe that we can all benefit from a world with no patriarchal system that only resulted in tragedy.

In the occupied France in the World War II, the housewife and aspirant singer Marie Latour (Isabelle Huppert) is a young woman that raises her two children alone with many financial difficulties. Her husband, Paul Latour (François Cluzet), was made prisoner by the Germans and sent to Germany. When her next-door neighbor gets pregnant, she performs an abortion and receives a record player as a gift. Meanwhile, Paul returns too weak to find a steady job. Marie befriends the prostitute Lulu (Marie Trintignant) and learns that she can make money performing abortions and renting her room for prostitutes. Her life improves, she buys foods and clothes for her children and she, and has singing lessons with a teacher, but she refuses to have sex with Paul since she is in a loveless marriage. When she meets Lulu's client Lucien (Nils Tavernier), who is a collaborationist crane operator, he becomes her lover. One afternoon, she brings Lucien and has sex with him in her bed. Paul arrives earlier and sees them on the bed. Humiliated, he denounces Marie to the chief of police, she is arrested and sent to Paris to be judged. What will happen to her?

"Une affaire de femmes", a.k.a. "Story of Women", is another excellent film by Claude Chabrol that changes his usual suspense genre to a drama about moral hypocrisy in a occupied country during the World War II. The plot is based on the story of Marie Latour, who is magnificently performed by Isabelle Huppert, an uneducated woman that finds a means to survive in times of war and give a better life to her two children performing abortion of women knocked out by Germans, affairs or their own husbands and renting her room to prostitutes during the days. Her husband denounces her, and she is sent to Paris to become the scape goat in a political judgement in a defeated and hypocrite country. Chabrol touches the wound and Marie is guillotined in 1943. In the present days, abortion is still a polemic theme specially in Catholic countries like Brazil. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Um Assunto de Mulheres" ("A Subject of Women")

"With regard to the hot-button issue of abortion, unlike similar-themed works such as Mike Leigh's VERA DRAKE (2004), Chabrol refuses to head into sentimentality of snot and lachrymose excretion, Marie reckons her act as a means to earn money and help those really in need, without much qualms (only later she tentatively asks Lulu, do fetuses have souls? And Lulu shoots back a piercing zinger). Even when a philoprogenitive mother (Blanc, her confession is delivered with pluperfect poignancy) dies after the homespun procedure, there is no compunction can be found on Huppert's steely face, only commiserations. For Marie, it is a risk entailed, she did nothing wrong, and it doesn't stop her to take the fee, the film's pro-choice stance is unbending and cogently asserted."

read my full review on my Cinema Omnivore, thanks.