''A Gentle Woman'' (french: Une femme douce) is a 1969 French tragedy film directed by

Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson contributed notably to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, ellipses, and sparse use of scoring have l ...

. It is Bresson's first film in

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are assoc ...

, and adapted from Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1876 short story "

A Gentle Creature "A Gentle Creature" (russian: Кроткая, translit=Krotkaya), sometimes also translated as "The Meek One", is a short story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky written in November 1876. The piece comes with the subtitle of "A Fantastic Story", and it chr ...

" (russian: Кроткая, translit=Krotkaya). The film is set in contemporary

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. The tragedy is characterised by Bresson's well known ascetic style, without any dynamic sequences or professional

actors An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

' experienced and excessive expressions.

Dominique Sanda Dominique Marie-Françoise Renée Varaigne (born 11 March 1951), professionally known as Dominique Sanda, is a French actress and former fashion model. Life and career Sanda was born in Paris, to Lucienne (née Pichon) and Gérard Varaigne. She ...

, who plays the titular "gentle woman", made her debut in the film, starting her career as an actress. Bresson chose her just as a result of her first voice call. Although the film applies a background of 1960s Paris, such as

Muséum national d'histoire naturelle The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loc ...

and

Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement of the city. In 2021 it ranked 10th in t ...

, its theme adheres closely to the novella. Bresson subsequently made another adaptation of Dostoevsky, his next film ''

Quatre nuits d'un rêveur ''Four Nights of a Dreamer'' (french: Quatre nuits d'un rêveur) is a 1971 French drama film directed by Robert Bresson and starring Isabelle Weingarten. The film was entered into the 21st Berlin International Film Festival. The film is loosely ...

(Four Nights of a Dreamer)'' (1971) based on ''

White Nights White night, White Night, or White Nights may refer to: * White night (astronomy), a night in which it never gets completely dark, at high latitudes outside the Arctic and Antarctic Circles * White Night festivals, all-night arts festivals held ...

''.

Plot

The film opens with a falling scarf, leading us to a young woman's dead body on the street. From the later scenes, we understand that the young woman was Elle (

), who steps off the balcony of her Parisian apartment, plunging to her death. Why has she done it? As her distraught husband, Luc (Guy Frangin), looks over her dead body, and explores what led her to kill herself in a talk to the maid, the picture traces their lives together in flashbacks. Elle is

—meek, dreamy and thoughtful. She entrances Luc, who pursues her passionately. They marry, but the match never seems right. The story reveals their desperate, despairing miscommunication. Though they try many diversions (theater, television, films) these are momentary respites for the two of them (for Elle more-so, as we see with her interest in ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'', which plays out in an extended scene). Their dialogue only deepens her isolation and sadness.

Cast

as Elle * Guy Frangin as Luc, Elle's husband *

Jeanne Lobre Jeanne may refer to: Places * Jeanne (crater), on Venus People * Jeanne (given name) * Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc, 1412–1431) * Joanna of Flanders (1295–1374) * Joan, Duchess of Brittany Joan of Penthièvre (French: Jeanne de Penthièvre; ...

as Anna, the maid

References

External links

* * 1969 films Films based on short fiction Films directed by Robert Bresson 1969 drama films Films set in Paris Films based on works by Fyodor Dostoyevsky French drama films 1960s French films {{1960s-drama-film-stub