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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'La Donna è donna" or "A Woman Is a Woman")

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/godard.htm
France 1961

With A Woman is a Woman (Une Femme est une femme), compulsively innovative director Jean-Luc Godard presents “a neorealist musical—that is, a contradiction in terms.” Featuring French superstars Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Jean-Claude Brialy at their peak of popularity, A Woman is a Woman is a sly, playful tribute to—and interrogation of—the American musical comedy, showcasing Godard’s signature wit and intellectual acumen. The film tells the story of exotic dancer Angéla (Karina) as she attempts to have a child with her unwilling lover Émile (Brialy). In the process, she finds herself torn between him and his best friend Alfred (Belmondo). A dizzying compendium of color, humor, and the music of renowned composer Michel Legrand, A Woman is a Woman finds the young Godard at his warmest and most accessible, reveling in and scrutinizing the mechanics of his great obsession: the cinema.

Posters

Theatrical Release: September 6th, 1961 - France

Reviews    More Reviews    DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Criterion -  Region 0 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover

   

CLICK to order from:

Distribution Criterion Collection - Spine # 238
Runtime 1:23:54 
Video 2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 6.46 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s 

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Audio French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Production Company: Criterion Collection

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1

Edition Details:
• New digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Raoul Coutard
• An early short film by director Jean-Luc Godard
Qui etes-vous Anna Karina?, excerpts from a 1966 French television interview with Karina, Brialy, and Serge Gainsbourg
• Collection of A Woman is a Woman posters from around the world
• New essay by film critic J. Hoberman

DVD Release Date:
June 22, 2004
White Keep Case (1st for Criterion)
Chapters: 17

Comments:

This anamorphic and progressive DVD is magnificent. The colors in Godard's "A Woman is a Woman" have never looked so alive. Image quality is sharp with amazing contrast on this wonderful cinemascope aspect ratio.

I love the menu's, some nice Extra inclusions - a cool new white keep case. Not a speck of damage or dust and a smattering of film grain. Criterion just keeps improving. What more could you ask for excluding a commentary? 

Gary W. Tooze


Recommended Reading in French Cinema (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)

The Films in My Life
by Francois Truffaut, Leonard Mayhew

French Cinema: A Student's Guide
by Philip Powrie, Keith Reader
Agnes Varda by Alison Smith Godard on Godard : Critical Writings by Jean-Luc Godard Notes on the Cinematographer by Robert Bresson The Art of Cinema by Jean Cocteau French New Wave
by Jean Douchet, Robert Bonnono, Cedric Anger, Robert Bononno
Truffaut: A Biography by Antoine do Baecque and Serge Toubiana

Check out more in "The Library"


DVD Menus

 


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DVD Box Cover

   

CLICK to order from:

Distribution Criterion Collection - Spine # 238



 

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Gary Tooze