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Essential Godard
As a Godard fan I would rank this film ahead of some of his other higher profile films. It is a much more impressive cinematic experience than Le Petit Soldat, Bande a Part, Le Chinoise or Masculin Feminin. The story (basically a sociological study, not a psychological one) is concise and focused. Coutard’s cinematography is surpassed perhaps only by Contempt and Prenom Carmen. What is truly amazing is this film went through pre-production, filming, editing to completion in under 30 days! The DVD has no extras but the transfer looks amazing.

Blu-ray: A Jean-Luc Godard masterpiece! Awesome that Masters of Cinema has released this in no-region.
1964. Jean-Luc Godard has had another success with his fifth film “Bande a part” (Band of Outsiders) and began his sixth feature film “Une femme mariée: Fragments D’un Film Tourne En 1964 en Noir et Blanc” (A Married Woman: Fragments from a film from 1964 in Black and White). The film which he began in June 1964 was shot in a four weeks, edited within five weeks and shown at the Venice Film Festival in early September.

Among the few early ’60s Godard titles that have not been released in the U.S., fortunately EUREKA!’s Masters of Cinema (based in the UK) have heeded the call of cinema fans worldwide and have decided to release most of their Blu-ray’s ala non-region (with the exception of a title or two that were released in the US by the Criterion Collection).

“Une femme mariée: Fragments D’un Film Tourne En 1964 en Noir et Blanc” is rather an interesting, entertaining and profound film by Jean-Luc Godard. Quite different than “Band of Outsiders” which preceded it and “Alphaville” which came after, this film is a film that can be seen as a sign of the times but still as relevant today.

Although I have not seen every Godard film made let alone any films he released after 1970 but I have seen a good number of his ’60s films and I have to say that “”Une femme mariée” is his most erotic film. We see many shots of a naked back, a stomach, thighs as hands are seen caressing a woman’s body. Visually poetic, Godard’s film uses fade outs instead of his familar jump cuts. We see the negative utilized in Godard’s video (which would be explored in “Alphaville”) and more.

“Une femme mariée: Fragments D’un Film Tourne En 1964 en Noir et Blanc” revolves around a woman named Charlotte (played by Macha Méril, “Belle de Jour”) who is a married but having an affair with theatre actor Robert (played by Bernard Noël, “La Ronde”, “Trois Femmes”). She enjoys her time with Robert and loves him.

But she is married to Pierre (played by Philippe Leroy, “Le Trou”, “La vita di Leonardo Da Vinci”), a pilot who provides her with what she needs financially, and she also raises her step son with him. Pierre is truly in love with his wife Charlotte, even though he discovered her affair three months earlier to Robert via a private investigator.

For Charlotte, she has balanced her days with Pierre and Robert and for her, she obsesses with what is shown in the women’s magazines. Enhancing her breast size, wearing the best panties and bras, she is a very shallow woman.

But she starts to see life differently. When she meets her husband’s philosopher friend Roger Leehardt, then seeing how young women discuss their attraction to men and losing their virginity, seeing how women do things to attract men and then trying to find out if she is a pregnant woman. She knows that both men would love to have a baby with her or they say that. But she is undecided on who she wants to be with and thus she interviews her husband and her lover.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Une femme mariée: Fragments D’un Film Tourne En 1964 en Noir et Blanc” is featured in 1080p AVC encode with the original aspect ratio of 1:37:1 and looks absolutely wonderful in HD. Picture quality for this film is absolutely beautiful. Detail from Méril’s eyes and her hair, to the beauty of her skin, this is seen quite beautifully on Blu-ray. No trace of DNR and just an overall magnificent transfer on HD.

Audio is in Dolby Digital 1.0 (LPCM) and presented in French with English subtitles. Audio is clear and understandable, as with the music but for those with a modern home theater receiver, for a more immersive soundtrack, one may want to select stereo on all channels or stay with the monaural soundtrack.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Une femme mariée: Fragments D’un Film Tourne En 1964 en Noir et Blanc” contains the following special features in 1080i:

* Original Theatrical Trailer – (3:25) The original theatrical trailer in 1080p created and edited by Jean-Luc Godard.
* 80-Page Booklet – 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; 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. A new statement about the film by star Macha Méril. A transcript of Godard’s late-’70s lecture on Une femme mariée, 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. And many notes on the film, Godard, and modern DVD production.

JUDGMENT CALL:

“Une femme mariée: Fragments D’un Film Tourne En 1964 en Noir et Blanc” is an interesting film. As mentioned, this is his most erotic film as we see hands caressing Macha Méril’s body. Her back, her arms, her thighs, her waist… it’s a very creative way of how it was filmed. Focusing on the body parts and showcasing sexuality without having to show its participants full bodies taking part in sex.

Of course, the film is seen differently by many people. For some, this is Godard’s life with Anna Karina and his marriage going downhill. Is this why Godard exploring marriage and the obsession of what his hot in pop culture and women’s fashion courtesy of advertising and how it corrupts women. While men are not as easily pulled into it but yet they are hooked on the women that do so. Shallowness has been explored in Godard’s “2 or 3 Things I Know About Her” and also in “Masculin Feminin”. In this case, Charlotte is being told about why they were in Auschwitz, but what happened during WWII is not important as it’s passe to her, while a magazine article about breast enlargement is more intriguing. She is not an intellectual, she is a woman of faults and is not afraid to admit it. She is a product of mindless consumerism, a woman who lives for the now and wants to experience for the thrill of what happens “now”.

But I enjoyed this film because it was so visually creative. The erotic shots were well-done. Improvisational use of questions being asked a question by Charlotte (which I’m guessing similar to “Masculin Feminin”, questions are being told to Macha Méril by Godard) to actor Bernard Noel who is answering as himself but also in character as Robert about if his love for Charlotte is real or is he acting. Even certain mistakes as Charlotte is running and falls flat on the road is kept in the film. This is Godard using spontaneous moments and using it for his film.

As for the Blu-ray release, the fact that EUREKA! ala The Masters of Cinema are releasing the majority of their Blu-rays ala non-region is very important. For one, the main way for people to watch Godard releases were primarily from The Criterion Collection. But here we have The Masters of Cinema releasing a quality product on Blu-ray but also making sure that those who enjoyed those Criterion releases, get the same quality with MoC releases and it’s not just for those living in Europe, now all of us all over the world can enjoy this Blu-ray release.

This release of “Une femme mariée: Fragments D’un Film Tourne En 1964 en Noir et Blanc” is simply the best looking version out there and I don’t know if we’ll get anything that will look this magnificent of the film for a long while. Although, the film does not have any featurettes, for cinemaphiles, the 80-page booklet is just full of content and information about the film. This is a film that many people have wanted released in the US and now it’s available. Now hopefully, a company releases Godard’s 1967 film “Week End” remastered on Blu-ray or DVD as many have waited years for a release of the film.

Overall, I know I keep saying that nearly every Godard film is a masterpiece. But I do feel that “Une femme mariée: Fragments D’un Film Tourne En 1964 en Noir et Blanc” is indeed a masterpiece and shows that an auteur such as Godard can craft something so quickly and yet making sure the film is witty, humorous and also tragic in some way.

Highly recommended!

Intriguing Character Study
“Une Femme Mariee” follows Charlotte (Macha Meril (”Belle de Jour,” “Deep Red”) through the course of one day as she learns she is pregnant and is unsure if the father is her possessive, jealous husband (Philippe Leroy, “La Femme Nikita”), who regards her as a trophy wife, or her lover, Robert (Bernard Noel, “La Ronde”), an actor who treats her merely as a sex object. To further complicate matters, Charlotte is besieged by images of the new consumerist society of the 1960’s.
Director Jean-Luc Godard was voted the third-greatest filmmaker ever — behind only Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock — by the latest “Sight and Sound” poll of the world’s leading film critics. “Une Femme Mariee,” in French with English subtitles, is a moving portrait of a modern woman fighting back after being reduced to little more than a sexual commodity in this 1964 film.

Une Femme Mariee Description:

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“Godard is to his medium what Joyce, Stravinsky, Eliot, and Picasso were to theirs.” –The Village Voice

Legendary French New Wave auteur Jean-Luc Godard reverses the standard love triangle and challenges the influence of consumer culture in one of his most provocative dissections of modern life.

Charlotte (Macha Méril) aimlessly drifts between morning affairs with the artistic Robert (Bernard Noël) and mundane evenings with her paternalistic husband Pierre (Philippe Leroy). Unsure of whether she loves either man, Charlotte discovers she is pregnant and must come to terms with her emotional infidelities.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45604 in DVD
• Brand: KOCH ENT.
• Released on: 2009-06-02
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 94 minutes

Features

• UNE FEMME MARIEE A MARRIED WOMAN (DVD MOVIE)

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