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.
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.