IN THE SHADOW OF WOMEN: Stylish But Slight

If you were compiling a list of the most important directors of the French New Wave, Phillipe Garrel probably wouldn’t make the top ten.

But more than fifty years after the Nouvelle Vague hit its peak, Garrel is one of few directors left who are still making films that live up to the ethos championed by contemporaries like Truffaut and Godard. If you were channel-flicking, and landed on In The Shadow Of Women, it would take you a while to realise that it was made in 2015 and not 1965.  The lustrous monochromatic photography, location shooting on the streets of Paris, and lyrical voice-over (performed by Garrel‘s son Louis), all make the film a fitting formal tribute to the movement in which Garrel came of age.

When it comes to the film’s content, however, In the Shadow of Women remains far behind the New Wave films that set the cinematic world alight, half a century ago.

In The Shadow Of Women

Pierre (Stanislas Mehrer) is a documentarian and his wife Manon (Clothilde Courau) assists him. At one time she had plans to be a translator, but claims to be happy working closely with her husband. Though he hasn’t made it big yet, they are both hopeful that there is a bright future ahead.

One day, Pierre meets graduate student Elisabeth (Lena Paugam). He falls for her instantly, and they begin an intense affair. But despite his new love interest, Pierre has no desire to divorce Manon.

Things change when Elisabeth sees Manon with her own lover. Despite her own situation, Elisabeth is aghast, and tells Pierre, who is furious. Though aware of the hypocrisy of his feelings, he seems unable to surmount them. It will take a whole lot of soul searching on all sides if any of these relationships are to be salvaged.

Dual Meanings

The meaning of the film’s title could be interpreted a couple of ways.

The first is that In the Shadow of Women takes place within the shadow of men, where women live. As we learn from a conversation she has with her mother, Manon had no plans to enter the world of documentary filmmaking before she met Pierre. A student of Oriental Studies, she was on track to become a translator. Manon’s mother questions whether she made a mistake in giving up her dreams to satisfy her man, “No man is worth sacrificing your life for.” But Manon maintains “It’s not a sacrifice, it’s a choice… working with the man you love, what could be better?” Her mother does not look convinced.

This is mirrored nicely in the relationship between an old resistance fighter and his wife, who Pierre and Manon are interviewing for their latest documentary. The elderly man is relaying an exciting story about his life during the occupation, and his wife sits beside him, looking totally uninterested. At several points she interrupts him, in order to offer Pierre and Manon her homemade confections.

The film later offers an explanation for the old lady’s disengagement, but during the scene it seems like she has heard this story a thousand times before and is fed up of playing second fiddle.

The other possible interpretation of the title is that the men in this film are ‘in the shadow’ of the women.

And primarily this refers to Pierre. Both the women in his life get a scene that fleshes out their characters and their histories; Manon during that conversation with her mother, Elisabeth in her first post-coitus conversation with her new lover. We learn next to nothing about Pierre, all the way up until the closing credits.

When she describes why Pierre is such a good documentarian, Manon talks about how he uses silence in order to make his subjects so uncomfortable that they fill it. But at home too, Pierre is defined by these silences. It is Manon who does all the talking and all the emoting; Pierre is largely silent and impassive.

Whichever interpretation of the title you believe is correct, for the first two acts, In the Shadow of Women is deft in its observations of these relationships between men and women. Which is why it becomes so disappointing when the third act decides to drop any commentary and transition into a pure romantic-comedy. Garrel has all these promising themes and interesting observations at his disposal, and they never amount to anything. And the film suffers for it.

Hypocrisy

In The Shadow Of Women centres around a hypocrisy. Pierre is engaged in an affair that doesn’t seem to be causing him any guilt. Yet when he learns that Manon is having an affair, he is furious, and insists she breaks up with her lover (who, incidentally, seems far more caring and loving than Pierre). It is a long time before he decides to break up with his own.

Unlike many films where this hypocrisy occurs, In the Shadow of Women at least acknowledges that this is a hypocrisy. The voice-over announces Pierre’s inner thoughts, first around his lack of guilt for his infidelity (‘That’s the way it is, because I’m a man. Don’t blame me for being a man.’), and then over his surprise that Manon has also taken a lover (‘He thought only men could be unfaithful.’)

But although Pierre can see that he holds a double standard, he never acknowledges that that is a bad thing. More aggravating than his fury that his wife committed exactly the same transgression that he did, is the entitlement that he felt to commit that transgression in the first place. He honestly doesn’t believe that he’s done anything wrong.

This makes the character of Pierre nothing short of repellent. Even before anyone is aware of all the affairs, he is a dispassionate, anaemic presence. Near-silent and expressionless, despite having such an interesting job, and despite having convinced Manon to abandon her own career path and follow him, he never shows any personality. He’s an empty vessel.

I’ve already mentioned what a disappointment the third act of the film is, and this is also true in its treatment of Pierre. We have seen him be nothing but an insensitive, shallow jerk, and then the denouement (which I’m trying really hard not to ruin) negates any sort of message that the film was trying to convey, and rewards him for his constant petulance. It makes you seriously wonder if In the Shadow of Women had anything to say to begin with.

In Conclusion

There’s no question that In the Shadow of Women is a lovely-looking work. With its black and white, 35mm photography, abundant location shooting, and poetic voice-over, it could easily pass as an entry in the Nouvelle Vague.

Thematically, though, it’s hard to know what to make of it. For a romance, the leading man is insurmountably awful. For a searing insight into the double standards around infidelity, well, there isn’t anything. The film doesn’t do anything other than point the double standards out. The sentimental ending undoes any larger meaning.

With a longer duration, perhaps Garrel would have seen fit to expand on his themes and characterisation. As it is, In the Shadow of Women is a trifle; pretty, but lacking any substance.

What’s your favourite French New Wave film? How does In the Shadow of Women compare?

In The Shadow of Women is coming to home video DVD on August 8, 2017. For all future release dates of In the Shadow of Women click here.