A WOMAN’S LIFE: Endlessly, Unremittingly, Relentlessly Bleak

My home country of England is known primarily for one genre- the period drama. From Downton Abbey to endless Austen adaptations, you’re never too far from a period drama hitting TV or the nearest cinema. I can tolerate them in small doses, but really, largely, if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.

The prospect of a French period drama intrigued me, however, especially one directed by Stéphane Brizé, whose That film, about a man who loses his job, and the torturous process he then has to undergo in order to support his family, was very much of the moment. A Woman’s Life , the story of a wealthy woman in the early 19th century, based on a story by Guy De Maupassant, is very much not so.

A Woman’s Story

A Woman’s Life tells the tale of Jeanne (Judith Chemla), the daughter of wealthy parents Simon-Jacques (Jean-Pierre Darroussin), and Adelaide (Yolande Moreau). The film is told in a fragmented narrative, skipping backwards and forward in time, though the general direction is forward.

Early in the film we see her marry Julien (Swann Arlaud), a handsome man, but of less means than Jeanne. They have a child, but then soon after that, it becomes clear that Julien has also sired a child with their maid, Rosalie (Nina Meurisse). Familial, and religious pressure ensures that Jeanne remains with her cheating husband, but it turns out that his betrayal was just the tip of the misery iceberg that becomes Jeanne’s life.

A Tough Watch

A Woman’s Life is a tough watch in just about every way.

To start with, practically. The film’s fragmented narrative means that without paying close attention, it would be easy to find yourself lost. Characters disappear and reappear without much notice, pivotal events often take place off screen, and at one point there’s a shocking flash-forward that comes out of nowhere and is never referred to again.

Mainly though, the film is a tough watch thanks to the relentless hardships to which Jeanne is subject. Affairs, illness (both mental and physical), betrayals, debt, loneliness, and death. There are innumerable scenes of misery and discomfort; when Jeanne and Julien consummate their marriage, when Jeanne is cruelly manipulated into staying with Julien, when Simon, the son of Jeanne and Julien, shows his violent opposition to staying in the boarding school he hates. Over the course of the film, everything that Jeanne had – family, friends, money – is taken away from her. The few bright spots are almost immediately overshadowed by subsequent dire events.

Brizé emphasises this tale of woe in his manner of shooting. A Woman’s Life is filmed in academy ratio, all the action taking place in a square box. With less of an area to work with, the actors fill up more of the screen, lending events an uncomfortably claustrophobic air. Whilst the film’s rare happy moments are shot in sunny, outside light, most of the heartache takes place in the muted, dull colours of indoors.

A Woman’s Life

Other than in its title, the film is subtle in underlining its message that this is a specifically female story. At no point does Jeanne rail against her treatment by saying, “If I were a man, this would not be happening to me.” And yet it is clear that due to her gender, she is subject to things that a man in the same position would not be subject to.

This is mainly shown through the ways in which she is manipulated by the various people in her life. After her husband’s first incident of philandering, she is forced into an intervention by her parents and the priest. The priest prods Julien into a childish apology, and then along with her parents, strongly recommends she forgive him. The man had done wrong, and it is the woman’s duty to forgive. However many times he continues to do wrong. There is no way for poor Jeanne to escape Julien.

There’s an uncomfortable protracted scene early in the film that takes place on Jeanne and Julien’s wedding night, as they are consummating their marriage. The camera stays tight on her anguished face, making it clear that she is not enjoying the act one bit. In fact, at one point she tells him to stop, and too long a time passes before he obeys her instructions. Because in this world it is his pleasure that is important, not hers.

A Woman’s Life excels at showing the vital importance of female friendships. It is particularly agonising for Jeanne when Julien cheats on her with her best friend; the only female friend she had. Thanks to the film’s fragmentary nature, we witness her abject loneliness in her marriage, her elation at finding her friend, and desolation at the subsequent betrayal, in painfully quick-fire succession.

And after everyone else has left her, Jeanne’s last friend in the world proves to be the first woman to betray her: Rosalie. The relationship between the two women, though tempered by a lot of understandable anger on the part of Jeanne, is one of the few moments of hope the otherwise endlessly miserable film has to offer, and it feels like coming up for air after nearly drowning. But it’s still not enough to counter all that has come before.

In Conclusion

In basically all respects, A Woman’s Life is an accomplished, moving film. Judith Chemla‘s lead performance is quietly brilliant, the fractured narrative is an interesting storytelling device, and the decision to shoot in 4:3 adds a claustrophobia that raises the emotional stakes to even higher level. It deals with its female characters empathetically and honestly.  It’s a good film.

But I wouldn’t recommend it. Films that are unremittingly bleak are fine, as long as they have a point to make. And it’s hard to decipher what the meaning of A Woman’s Life is. The final line of dialogue offers a marginally hopeful explanation (I won’t spoil it here, because if you make it that far, you’ll need the pick-me-up), but after witnessing life brutally beat away at Jeanne for two hours straight, it’s hard to agree with the sudden turn towards optimism.

Only one to watch if you’ve been too happy lately and are in need of bringing down to earth.

What’s the most depressing film you’ve ever seen? And did it have a moral, or a point?

A Woman’s Life is on limited release in the US from May 12th. For all other upcoming release dates, click here.