Product Description

Long out-of-circulation and unavailable on home video, Jean-Luc Godard's 1964 masterpiece Une femme mariée, fragments d'un film tourné en 1964 en noir et blanc [A Married Woman: Fragments of a Film Shot in 1964 in Black and White] has, until now, represented the ostensibly 'missing' key work from the first, zeitgeist-defining phase of JLG's filmography. The feature which bridges the gap between Bande à part and Alphaville, Une femme mariée is, nevertheless, a galaxy, or gallery, unto itself a lucid, complex, profoundly funny series of portraits, etched with Godardian acids, of the wife that represents either a singular case, or a universal example, of "a"/"the" married woman, and the men in her orbit. Macha Méril (later of Pialat's Nous ne vieillirons pas ensemble, and Varda's Sans toit ni loi) plays Charlotte the title character. She's married to aviator Pierre (Philippe Leroy, of Becker's Le Trou). She sleeps with thespian Robert (Bernard Noël). She talks "intelligence" with renowned critic-filmmaker Roger Leenhardt, and takes part in a fashion-shoot at a public pool. The "fragments" of the film's subtitle are chapters, episodes, vignettes, tableaux; Une femme mariée is a pile of magazines made into a film, and a film turned into a magazine the table of contents reading: Alfred Hitchcock. Jean Racine. La Peau douce. A Peruvian serum. Nuit et brouillard. The "Eloquence" bra. The quartets of Beethoven. Madame Céline. Fantômas. Robert Bresson. A Volkswagen making a right turn. A film shot in 1964, and in black and white. Designed with Raoul Coutard's breathtaking cinematography, Godard's picture captures a moment in time but all its mysteries, its truths, its beauty, comedy and grace, serve to resolve into a work of art for the ages. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Jean-Luc Godard's classic, Une femme mariée, in a magnificent new Gaumont restoration for the first time on home video in the UK. ----Special Features:----** Gorgeous new progressive high-definition transfer of the film in its original aspect ratio ** New and improved English subtitle translations ** The original trailer for the film, created and edited by Jean-Luc Godard at the time of the film's original French release ** 80-PAGE BOOK containing: -A new "overture" by legendary French critic and filmmaker Luc Moullet (Les Contrebandières, A Girl Is a Gun, Les Sièges de l'Alcazar, Le Prestige de la mort) -A lengthy roundtable discussion between Luc Moullet; writer/critic and American correspondent for Cahiers du cinéma Bill Krohn; writer/critic Andy Rector; and MoC's Craig Keller on the film, and its relationship to Godard's oeuvre from the 1950s through the 2000s -A concentrated investigation into the film by Bill Krohn -An image-essay by Andy Rector -A new statement about the film by star Macha Méril -A transcript of Godard's late-'70s lecture on Une femme mariée, Bergman's Persona, Flaherty's Nanook of the North, and Rossellini's Francesco giullare di Dio, originally presented in Introduction à une véritable histoire du cinéma, translated here into English for the first time -Relevant excerpts from Jean Racine's Bérénice, in the original French, accompanied by a new parallel English translation -A graphical consideration (running the course of the book) of the role of DVD booklets in the modern film-viewing era And more!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26221 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-04-20
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, PAL
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 111 minutes

Synopsis
Famed auteur Jean-Luc Godard's fascination with the female race continues with A MARRIED WOMAN, an unconventional cinematic portrait of a woman who is at a crossroads in her life. Charlotte (Macha Meril) is a beautiful young wife and stepmother, who also happens to have fallen in love with Robert (Bernard Noel), a charming actor. While her husband, Pierre (Philippe Leroy), is away on business, she and Robert continue to spend time together in a hotel. When Pierre returns, Charlotte must lie in order to cover up her infidelities. She eventually learns that she is pregnant, forcing her to choose between a life with her husband, or a fresh new start with Robert. Shot in a series of extreme close-ups that mostly focus on Charlotte's flesh, Godard shows his obvious reverence for the female body. He also allows his actors the time to express their own confusion and philosophies--most notably in an extended dinner sequence. Godard's intellectual approach to male-female relationships, and especially the institution of marriage, is on full display with this influential drama, in a similar manner to the director's MY LIFE TO LIVE, TWO OR THREE THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER, and CONTEMPT.

Customer Reviews

Une Femme Mariée
In Une Femme Mariée film we follow a married woman in different situations: at home with her husband and in meetings with her lover. The focus is not really on the plot but rather on relations. There is aso quite a lot of quasi-philosophical dialogue, experimental/quirky ways of filming (but not too much), sometimes a documentary feel, and sudden inserted commercial pictures of womens apparel. There is also references to other french movies (as when Charlotte walks out on the roof in her underwear saying "have you seen Fantomas?").

Une Femme Mariée is more like Godard's earlier movies, Breathless, Bande Apart and Vivre sa Vie. These are, imo, more playful and full of energy than later ones. If you like the earlier Godard you will probably like this as well, and vice versa. If you haven't seen anything by Godard, this may be a possible start.

The transfer of this MoC DVD is very sharp, I watched it on a projector and it worked excellent. There are no special extras on the disc, but a nice, thick booklet with essays. Recommended to anyone interested in french cinema and the 1960s french new wave.

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Eureka does wonderful work once again. this DVD is an amazing product and well worth your hard earned cash. especially if you are a Godard lover. I have never seen this film and it really is one of his most interesting works. a real treasure. buy it!