A Married Woman - Jean Luc Godard

(aka 'Une femme mariée: Suite de fragments d'un film tourné en 1964' or 'A Married Woman' or 'Une femme mariée ')

France 1964

A married woman carrying on an affair with a married man discovers that she is pregnant. Double trouble follows: first, she is not sure who the father is; second, she doesn't know weather or not she really loves either man. A look at modern relationships and modern problems expressed largely through Godardian montages of modern pop art images and sounds. Also noteworthy as one of the first instances where Godard used open sex as a polemic. The film’s humorous and erotic look at French womanhood drew strenuous condemnation from Charles De Gaul and praise from film critics worldwide.

****

The French were scandalized when this came out, with even General de Gaulle himself commenting that he didn't like any film that portrayed French women as faithless. Godard's story is relatively harmless by today's standards. It's a day in the life of a wife (Meril) who tries to choose between her pilot husband (Leroy) and lover (Noél), interspersed with debates about the nature of love, marriage and sex. As Godard films go, it's not one of his best, but it stands out because of the controversy and his portrayal of sex, which is still quite subtle and erotic.

Excerpt from Channel 4 located HERE

Relatively minor Godard which, characteristically, plays off fictional form (a day in the life of an adulterous wife) against documentary moments (face-on interviews in which characters lecture on abstracts like 'Memory' and 'Childhood'). Another of his socio-sexual fables, in fact, curious for the way it was censored. Outraged by its mockery of Marriage and Family, the authorities insisted that the title be changed - from La Femme Mariée (Married Woman, a collectivity, a condition) to Une Femme Mariée (A Married Woman, an individual, unrepresentative case).

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Poster

Theatrical Release: December 4th, 1964

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DVD Review: NYFA film Archives - Region 0 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	NYFA film Archives - Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:34:48
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.53 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 1.0) DUB: English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
Subtitles	English, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: NYFA film Archives Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: June 1st, 2006 Transparent Keep Case Chapters: 16

Comments:

NOTE: Upon further investigation it appears that this disc does have a glitch - "A Married Woman" repeats every fourth frame, like this: a, b, c, d, d, e, f, g, h, h, etc. In a very primitive way, this makes some sense: film is projected at 24 fps, and NTSC video at 30 fps. (Thanks Peter H. for telling us!).

Unfortunately the image on this New York Film Annex DVD is not at the same level as their Taira Clan Saga - Mizoguchi (recently reviewed). But again 'beggars can't be choosers' may be the appropriate edict. It is single-layered and progressive. The subtitles are removable in playback and a poor English DUB is offered on top of the original French audio. Image detail is as the screen caps below will verify - a bit hazy - representing the image like an typical VHS (perhaps even a notch below). A bit of chroma and digital artifacts were also evident. Audio was similarly weak in spots. There are no extras.

This is another instance where I think this is the only game in town for this film if you want a DVD with English subtitles. It is poor but certainly not unwatchable. Godard's cool use of pop imagery never seems to grow tiresome. Recommend for serious film fans and all 'Godardians'.