A Woman is a Woman: A Portrayal of Adolescent Relationships

I have never been to a film class before, and although I have only watched a few European films, Jean-Luc Godard’s 1961 avant-garde masterpiece, Une Femme est Une Femme, portrayed the most playful acting from all the French films I have watched. It is important to consider, though, that I am not completely knowledgeable of the culture in 1960’s France (when the film was produced). Thus, some of the factors that I may point out may be wrong.

Revolving around a stripper named Angela, her boyfriend, Emile, and their friend, Alfred, A Woman is a Woman conspicuously showcases a whimsical rendition of how men and women are stereotyped when it comes to relationships. However, deeply embedded into the film, and is what we will be focusing on, is a portrayal of a not-yet-matured relationship of two individuals who do not yet know the repercussions of their actions as well as what they really want.

From the title of the film itself, “A Woman is a Woman” suggests the stereotypical notion that women’s wants are absolute. That is, as portrayed in the film, women want babies, and when women want something, they would do anything to get it — no matter how they would get it. It also portrays women as emotionally-driven, dramatic, always pouting, and pabebe. This was showcased throughout the film, when Angela kept pouting in front of Emile when he keeps rejecting her request for a baby. Her being emotionally-driven is also conveyed in a scene where the camera focuses on her while tears were rolling down her cheeks. Furthermore, Angela’s non-admittance of missing Emile when they were talking on the phone and, then, covering the phone and wistfully admitting to herself that she does miss him showcases the childishness of individuals like her during the early stages of a relationship.

The same can be said for Emile. The film portrays him as a guy who is not yet ready to marry nor have a child. Although this may not pose a problem in his character, there are scenes where, while arguing with Angela regarding her request, Emile can be seen riding his bicycle in circles inside their apartment. This may either suggest his thought that the two of them are merely going in circles, his lack of maturity, or both. Furthermore, his inability (or, maybe, unwillingness) to admit his jealousy towards Alfred and, contradictingly, further irritating (rather intentionally) Angela may seem a bit immature in their relationship.

There are also scenes that, although amusing, showcase the adolescence of their relationship. In the scene where the two did not want to talk to each other, they kept going to bookshelves and pulling out books in their attempts to concoct words and literally arguing without talking to each other. This can also be seen when the two of them keep trying to sass each other and, humorously, settling the argument with a demonstration of the proper technique of pronouncing “r.” More importantly, the adolescence in their relationship was conspicuosly showcased with a text telling the audience that Angela and Emile are so deeply inlove with each other that would go far beyond what they can go through, which would lead to reprecussions — that is, Emile’s “approval” that Angela can have Alfred’s child and Angela’s “compliance” just to spite Emile.

The film also portrays other factors in the film, such as when Angela was shown a picture of Emile with another woman — suggesting that Emile cheated on her. The scene kept going back and forth to the picture and to a close up from Angela’s somber face. For this, it seems to portray how Angela may be obsessing (and maybe overthinking) about Emile and the woman he is with in the picture, which is usually a typical reaction in inidividuals in seemingly committed relationship.

Conclusively, Une Femme est Une Femme sets a mostly-realistic portrayal of adolescent relationships, showcasing flaws that two imperfect individuals may have even though they truly are in love with one another and exhibiting it through colorful and entertainment dramatics.

A Woman is a Woman: An Unconventional Love Affair

Alright, so before I get into talking about the movie, just a quick disclaimer: I usually don’t watch foreign films, so from the get go I took watching this movie attentively as an academic exercise. To my surprise, and somewhat of a delight, I found myself fairly intrigued with the movie.

I’m going to say it up front, the plot doesn’t really pick up until the 3rd act. I thought that the movie is very slow to progress, maybe that’s just the “style” of the movie, but that’s just my opinion of it. It could have also been due to the fact that the way sound was used in the movie. There would be parts that have no sound at all, and I would often think that “what happened to the audio?”. The use of the sound was purposeful, but I have yet to understand to what ends it affects the movie overall. In the movie, Angela works as an exotic dancer, but the movie seems like there wasn’t any sort of “taboo” behind that line of work. Personally I don’t have anything against it, but I know many people have strong opinions about it. I commend the film for not showing Angela’s choice of profession in a negative light.

Let’s talk about the “unconventional love affair” with the love triangle that came out of nowhere. Quick recap: Angela and Emile are together, but then Alfred professes his love for Angela when she finds out that Emile might be cheating on her. Angela sleeps with Alfred but then runs back to Emile. In my opinion, there wasn’t any setup for the “plot twist”, so it wasn’t very convincing that Alfred loved Angela. Let’s be real, it was no Bella-Edward-Jacob love triangle of Twilight fame, even if the love triangle in A Woman is a Woman came 40 years before it.

In conclusion, it’s hard to feel for the characters because the situations that they’re in, or better yet the situations that they put themselves through seem so far-fetched that we as an audience can’t relate. Although, I may not have liked the movie overall, I am still looking forward to what the other movies have in store!

A Woman is a Woman – Cinema is not Sacrosanct

The very first words that may come to mind while watching Goddard’s A Woman is a Woman: eccentric, different, and inarguably avant-garde. From the execution of the film to the actual premise of the story itself, almost everything about the film seemed to pointedly go against traditional Hollywood cinema.

The very beginnings of the movie lulled me into believing that the story’s premise would semble normalcy, simply because it reminded me of Breakfast at Tiffany’s (with the quirky, independent female protagonist living in a rather modest apartment, and her apparent string of admirers). However, the parallels end there, especially when the male protagonist comes into the picture. Perhaps I am simply unused to such an untraditional romantic relationship as theirs- maybe relationships like this are considered normal in Europe. Nonetheless, the narrative is merely the beginning of what makes the film so compelling to watch.

If there was one thing that made this film similar to Hollywood, it was that it was entertaining – in mainstream cinema, there is a need to entertain viewers in order to sustain our interest. Through its hilarity, the captivating female lead and to some extent the two male protagonists, the film was (at least in my case) successful in this sense. However, what separates this film from Classical Hollywood is that while it did entertain, it by no means allowed for benevolence nor transparency – a lot of the time I was rather confused, flabbergasted by the ridiculousness of their relationship, and the fact that almost absolutely everything else was portrayed in such a way that demanded viewers to remember that this was a film – from the fourth wall break at the very beginning, to the outright ridiculous scenarios the characters acted on screen (e.g., the ‘We’re Not Talking’ scene). At times, the narrative seemed completely non-sequitur, with some scenes that seemingly don’t contribute at all to the central plot. While there is a singular storyline and conflict, the film seems disjointed and disconnected, broken by several moments that are downright absurd. An example would be the completely random sequence where the police arrive at their apartment announcing that a terrorist threw a bomb – this sequence wherein no significant action takes place, and overall seems superfluous to the unfolding of the story. Another, more direct example of this (re: continuity editing) was the scene wherein the female protagonist threw up an egg, picked up the phone, and went back for the egg, catching it once more in the pan after being away for a significant portion of time.

Furthermore, I liked how the music stopped and started at random intervals. Music in a film is meant to guide and enhance our responses to the story. Here, however, the music seems to be the only thing that makes this film a musical, overlaid over normal conversations amongst the characters. It also provided a semblance of continuity. Thus, while the scenes seemed intransitive, it was not reckless, as every scene was beautifully done regardless, both visually, performance-wise, and otherwise – I wasn’t mad at its disjointedness.

Overall, it was a wake-up call to the fact that the rules normally followed in cinema are not sacrosanct, and that a film can be enjoyable despite its obvious plausibility. Mainstream superhero movies aren’t realistic, too, after all – the only reason this film seemed more implausible was its portrayal of normal people, in a normal setting, portraying their story in a non-normal way – not allowing viewers to be lulled into immersing themselves into the film. The film was charming in its absurdity and ability to make viewers do a double-take, but also laugh at the blatant comedy and haphazard, abject non-realistic scenes on screen. I was confused, but completely entranced all throughout. And at the end of the absurdity, the message of the film A Woman is a Woman was made clear – “Damn you” “No, a dame, me” – one way or another, women ALWAYS get what we want.

Something Different

Being a science major, I have to admit that this class is my first encounter to any class that is about the arts aside from my EnLit classes. I entered this class being interested in film but not really knowing anything about the technicalities or specific techniques concerned with the art. I was mainly exposed to American films most of my life and watching the film A Woman is a Woman was a great way to start my European film journey.

The film generally revolved around the desire of a stripper named Angela to have a baby. She numerously asked her boyfriend, Emile, to have a baby with her but he would constantly reject her proposition. At a certain point, Emile even asked his own best friend, Alfred, as well as strangers to impregnate Angela because he strongly did not want to have a baby. Later on, Angela had enough and slept with Alfred who also had feelings for her. Eventually, Angela confessed to Emilie about the incident, and that finally made Emile decide to sleep with Angela to have a baby.

Not having any background about European films, I was intrigued as to how Jean-Luc Godard executed the film. Being told that it was movie that was released more than fifty years ago, I was skeptical at first if it would capture my interest, and it did. It was a unique play on romance and comedy, something I have never seen in American films. Compared to modern romance films wherein men show utter respect to women, A Woman is a Woman is quite the opposite. I was shocked to see the scenes in which Emile would literally approach strangers or call his best friend just so he can tell them to impregnate his own girlfriend. Emile was shown to have dominant characteristics, but, at the same time, he was also shown to be childlike with his random immature acts. It was bizarre but Godard was able to use those scenes well for comedic use. On the other had, Godard also portrayed women in a different light. Although Emile was firm on his decision to not have a baby, his stand did not hinder Angela from finding a new path to fulfill her goal. Angela was portrayed as a very determined woman despite her boyfriend being against her and her having an arguably immodest profession. In the end, despite various circumstances, Angela was able to get what she wanted, even if involved cheating with Alfred to make Emile give in.

After seeing this film, I look forward to seeing other films directed by Godard. His unique way of making films may not be for everybody but it surely captured my interest and attention. It is amusing to see other ways people portray and view romanticism throughout different eras. It shows how there is really no cap for creativity. The film effectively shows how being different is not a bad thing. Despite different ways of portraying relationships, at the end of the day, a woman is a woman.

A Woman is A Woman: A Lover’s Quarrel

Francis Gavin S. Musngi

A Woman is a Woman tells a story of a conflict between the sexes male and female. Angela planned to have a child with her boyfriend Emile, but Emile says otherwise, and provides him alternatives to her conundrum. Godard, the director of this film, tells this tale by creatively using out-of-this-world cinematography and acting choices to display this spectacle of when a woman doesn’t get what she wants. And when a woman really wants something, sometimes she needs to maneuver around her own problems. The film shows how much Angela and Emile stood their ground in the idea of birthing a child, and eventually found a resolution to their predicament – while showcasing interesting direction provided by Godard’s vision.

The tensions between the two, Emile and Angela, create a feeling of playfulness or light-heartedness as they tackle the idea of childbirth in their own ways. Emile tries to openly reject Angela’s advances – even suggesting one of his friends sire their child. While on the later scenes, Emile circles around in his bicycle and talks with Angela despite saying “no talking” in bed. This goes to show that even though he may be stern on his response, he feels a softness for his girl Angela – that even with differences between the couple, they still find time to love one another. Angela, on the other hand, tries to push her agenda forward with Emile, adamant with getting a baby from his lover. She tries things available to him, even “sleeping” with Emile’s close friend, just to get Emile to get her pregnant. All of which is shown in a dramatic and funny way – with friendly banter sprinkled throughout the film.

The film goes to show that indeed, “A woman is a woman,” in the way that they would be fixated to something they really want. The film goes to show the cleverness of the “woman” in a society that is depicted dominated by the opposite gender. Men tending the stores, bars, and other business, while women in the movies are depicted as the temptresses and mistresses shown in the strip club. It’s interesting to see that despite the gender divisions shown, the woman can wrap a man around her finger through her sharp wit and charm, depicting the battle between the sexes that resonated with that generation of people then. It’s an attempt to change the viewers perspective of women – to show that women are more than what they seem, and they are persons who go after what they want, no less than any other person.

What I enjoyed out of this film is the interactions between Angela and Emile, especially during the times when they share opposite reservations about the childbirth. The conversations regarding the pregnancy is what I would call, “cute,” as the playful cinematography alleviates the tense topic of one reject her lover’s will for bearing a child. Angela and Emile love each other, without a doubt, and this shown on how they interact and exchange words with one another. The conflict, despite it being very dramatic and something tense, becomes a play on who gets their way, and what it will take to get that.

A Woman is a Woman: Love & Women Empowerment

Indeed, this European film was a strange one. The disclaimers given before watching the movie about European films being somewhat “weird” were proven by Jean-Luc Godard’s award winning movie, A Woman is a Woman. Despite the film being strange, the various elements showcased in the movie, such as the piano background that plays and suddenly stops, the play of lights, perfectly shot scenes and backgrounds, the consistent red tones, etc., worked together beautifully to create the masterpiece that it is. It was a movie that made me want to keep on watching albeit having to read the subtitles all the way from the back of the room.

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The film brought a new perspective on love. It depicts love as a very playful, childish, and quirky concept. The movie surely strayed away from typical romantic comedy films wherein the male character is the one who chases the female. Despite Emile continuously rejecting Angela’s desire to become pregnant, their relationship can be described as an open relationship because of the lack of exclusivity. Emile did not see any problem with the fact that his girlfriend strips in a club. He was even fine with the thought of Angela and his best friend, Alfred, sleeping together. Being raised in this conservative Filipino society, I got pretty confused. This made me think, are European relationships really this open? But maybe it’s just the strange plot of the film. It took a while for me to realize their routine before going to bed—using book covers to communicate a message with each other. At first, I thought they were just competing with one another whether who can read the most books within the night. When I finally understood, I found it funny. It is probably through being tricksy and prankish with one another that they are able to make their strange relationship work. I believe this teaches us an important thing about love: that there’s always something unique, may it be inside jokes or quirks, that leaves both parties wanting more of each other even in the face of problems.

maxresdefault Also, Anna Karina portrayed Angela in such a way that made her a model of women empowerment. The way Angela strolled the Parisian streets with so much confidence and regard for herself, the way she put on her make-up and did her hair, the way she dressed and carried MV5BNWIyMGMxOGItMmU3OC00YTQ0LWFiNWYtOTdkNzNhYmQzOTBkXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNzMzNzY1OTQ@._V1_ herself, the way she asserted herself and knew what she wanted, the way she messed up on cooking for Emile, and most importantly, the way she found no problem in her job as a stripper, all emphasized Angela’s fierce femininity and womanhood. Angela’s strong female character inspires women to be as confident as she is in her own skin. She somehow proves that not all women can do domestic chores like cooking for her boyfriend/husband and instead, focus on a non-conventional, sexual and seductive career that exposes her feminine body, yet this does not make her any less of a person. She is still able to live her life the way she wants and make everyone fall on their knees. It’s truly quite a tragedy for people who get in her way.

A Woman is A Woman Blog Entry

The movie “A woman Is a Woman” is by far the most bizarre movie that I have watched in recent years. Sudden starts and cuts to background music, the dialogue between the characters, and the plot all contributed to the uniqueness of this movie. As bizarre as the movie was however, it sent across several socio-political messages to the audience which were a pleasant surprise amidst the spectrum of colors, and music.

Angela, the female character who works as an exotic dancer at what seems to be a 60’s strip club, desires to bear a child with her lover Emile. Emile however, is not as keen on the idea of being a father as he feels that he isn’t quite ready to take on the responsibilities. Angela is depicted as a character with great conviction and the capabilities to push through with her decisions, which is something quite outstanding given the sociopolitical atmosphere of the 1960s in France. The growing conflict of interest serves as the basis of the plot; at one point they decide to stop communication with one another and instead point to the titles of the books for their means of communication. This was one of the more interesting parts of the film for a couple of reasons. Firstly it reminded me of Chaplin’s silent comedies where he uses various settings and environments to communicate and get across to the audience. The second reason is a little more political, for it sent the message that Knowledge was Power. In the silent argument between the couple, Angela was able to continue communicating her anger across to Emile through the titles of her collection of novels. It not only deepened her character as a witty and clever woman, but also an empowering figure of the feminist movement in the 1960s in France.

The second element that I really enjoyed identifying in the film was Angela’s inquisitive characteristics. She questioned everything around her from the existence of herself to inequality (“why is it always women that suffer?“). This set the broader theme of the movie for me, while the film was labeled as a comedy, it certainly sent across the message of the need to question the status quo of not just regarding one’s individual identity, but also the social injustices and inequalities that were present in those times.

Mischief was the third element which contributed to the weirdness of this film. Unlike the social norms of the 60s in France, Angela was quite the mischievous individual. Her actions were often comedic and motives were at times hard to understand. This element may be connected to her inquisitive characteristics as she decides to defy the norms of society and push the boundaries of what is accepted as normal. As the conflict between Emile intensifies, Angela resorts to an alternative reason to achieve what she desires – to sleep with Emile’s best friend, Alfred. While infidelity is not necessarily an important component in bringing equality within out societies, it showed that women were also capable of pushing through with their convictions. It was truly an interesting turn of events as it
reminded me that not all people’s priorities were aligned and that some people would simply to whatever is required to get something done.

A Show of Real Love- Having no Boundaries

Until this very moment, people relentlessly try to impose conditions/limitations towards love. With the right mindset, none of the implications set by others can truly alter your feelings nor define your relationship. Day in, day out these boundaries set by people prove to be false by the likes of Emile and Angela in Godard’s A Woman is a Woman.

A Woman is a Woman revolves around the comedic, and unusual love story of Angela, and Emile. The central conflict being that Angela wants to have a baby, while Emile doesn’t. The film showed how imperfect their relationship was through many scenes of them arguing over such little things, and constantly insulting each other. Despite all this, the film was able to portray the true feelings of the couple from within.

Godard’s A Woman is a Woman proved to be a true masterpiece to me as I unthinkingly came to appreciate the unorthodox methods of Godard in many aspects of filmmaking. To name a few, the way he uses musical accompaniment in almost every scene of the film to emphasize parts of the film. Secondly, his very playful methods of cinematography as seen through his transitions between scenes, and the way he immerses his audience as if they were being talked to by the characters in the film. Lastly, the unpredictable, yet rewarding plot. He used music and different sound effects so smoothly that it helped me predict what was to happen in every scene. He used different methods of cinematography to define important happenings in the film, and he froze the frame five times in which a character spoke to the camera as if he/she was talking to the audience which gave the film an even more comedic feeling. The plot of the film followed the usual three plot structure, but the confrontation and the resolution was so odd that I was confused whether an event such as Angela hooking up with Alfred actually happened. I couldn’t put to reality or relate to many parts of the film, and this got me feeling awkward watching it at most times. At the end of it all, as I finally found time to process everything, I realized one thing. I realized that real love has no boundaries.

A Woman is a Woman: Different, Yet Intriguing

Coming into this course, I expected to watch films that are different and unique compared to those that I usually watch. To start the course, A Woman is a Woman was the perfect movie to set the mood and my expectations for the rest of the films that we will be watching throughout the semester. It was visually playful, weirdly different, and entertaining. It was visually playful despite being released in 1961 since I initially expected it to look like the usual old films. I would consider this film to be weirdly different because it was not the typical story that I see in movies. The use of music, the unusual way that the movie was shot, the dialogues, and the times that the characters acknowledged the presence of the camera were some of the things that made the film different. One of the things that was quite disturbing for me at the start was the bursts of music that also stopped abruptly, which was a bit confusing for me since I did not see the point in it. For instance, one of the scenes that highlighted the play on music was when the soundtrack stopped whenever the character sings, which was very contradictory but somehow, it works when you look at the entirety of the film. In addition, Godard was able to add a comedic element to the movie to keep the viewers engaged and intrigued by whatever was happening.

The plot was also very different, portraying some of the qualities and cultural differences in European countries. Focusing on three main characters, Angela’s portrayal showed how she was desperate to have a child with Emile, her partner, who refused to have one. This led to her frustration throughout the movie which ends up with her sleeping with Alfred, Emile’s best friend, who liked her back. In the end, Emile realizes that he wanted to be the father if she bears a child so he also gives in. The ending perfectly showcased the title of a woman is a woman in terms of knowing what she wants and knowing how to get it regardless of whatever she has to do to get it. In my opinion, one of the problematic things in the film is a lack of the back story or the background of the characters to show how the story came about and why they act the way they do. It did not allow for the audience to really connect with the characters in the movie and sometimes drifted from its plot causing confusion and even unanswered questions for the viewers.

Godard portrays neo realism in this film as he focuses on the natural and realistic portrayal of things. This can be seen in the subtle mistakes that the director allows to be part of the film which added to the qualities that made it unusual in certain ways, but it works. Some scenes come out of nowhere and did not really explain why it became that way that was really confusing for me, but it surely left me intrigued. This also brought a funny aspect to the film that was enjoyable for the viewers despite its non-conventional methods, especially for me who loves movies and who wants to explore more types of films.

Despite being different, the movie was overall entertaining with the visual display and playfulness of the characters that brought life to the film. It was a great movie to start off the semester with and to give us a tease of what to expect in this film class.

A Woman is a Woman: A Colorful Romance

Having taken a film class before this semester, I have seen a few european films, and I found them to be unusual because they do not follow the mainstream way of Hollywood narratives. The film A Woman is a Woman is a strange yet unique and interesting film because while the plot is straight-forward, the film’s characters, music, and visuals help bring a comedic and entertaining effect to the atmosphere of the film. The acting of the characters Emile and Angela caught my attention because of how they are always arguing and acting very childish. During the scene when they are about to sleep and did not want to talk to each other, each of them used the title of books to give each other a message. I also found it unusual how Emile kept refusing to give Angela a child and was okay with her trying to sleep with other men because if he truly loved her, he would not be ok with that. Anna can be also seen as a childish character because of how desperate she is to get pregnant. The music also helped bring a light tone to the film like during the scene of Angela’s performance as an exotic dancer, but I also noticed there would be times the music in other scenes would be cut out of nowhere and continue after.

Even though the plot of the film is not that intricate, the film’s strong points were its aesthetically pleasing visual of colors. One example is during the scene of Angela’s performance in the dancer setting because we can see her wearing a white sailor outfit against a bright red background. Then later on we see there is a light machine which shines colors of blue, green and purple on the performance. There are also scenes wherein I noticed the bathroom of their apartment shows colorful lights through the glass of the door. The film also makes use of the costume of characters to help with the colorful visuals. This can be seen in the clothes of Anna which are usually bright red, and Emile’s blue suit. All these aspects help contribute to the beautiful visuals of the film.

This film can be seen as an art cinema film because of how it emphasized the way of conveying the story rather than what the story was about. Even though the film’s plot is simple, it was still interesting because it also showed me the stereotypes of the two genders and yet how the two genders are not that different. Anna is stereotyped to be a woman whose main purpose is to bear children because that is all she wants and thinks about. Aside from that I also noticed that these Anna and Emile are not that different because of their childish acting. It showed that men and women can both be irrational and act in strange ways. Overall I enjoyed watching this film because of the entertaining mix of character acting and creative visuals. It was an unusual film because it gave me a fresh and entertaining experience of romantic films.