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Story of Women

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Story of Women
Theatrical release poster
FrenchUne affaire de femmes
Directed byClaude Chabrol
Screenplay by
Based onUne affaire de femmes
by Francis Szpiner
Produced byMarin Karmitz
Starring
CinematographyJean Rabier
Edited byMonique Fardoulis
Music byMatthieu Chabrol
Production
companies
  • MK2 Productions
  • Films A2
  • Les Films du Camélia
  • La Sept
  • Sofinergie Films
Distributed byMK2 Diffusion
Release dates
  • 2 September 1988 (1988-09-02) (Venice)
  • 21 September 1988 (1988-09-21) (France)
Running time
108 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench

Story of Women (French: Une affaire de femmes) is a 1988 French drama film directed by Claude Chabrol, based on the true story of Marie-Louise Giraud, guillotined on 30 July 1943 for having performed 27 abortions in the Cherbourg area, and the 1986 book Une affaire de femmes by Francis Szpiner.

The film premiered at the 45th Venice International Film Festival, in which Isabelle Huppert was awarded the prize for Best Actress.[1] It has been cited as a favorite by filmmaker John Waters, who presented it as his annual selection within the 2008 Maryland Film Festival.[2]

Plot

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Under the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Paul Latour is a prisoner of war in Germany and his wife Marie lives hand-to-mouth with their two children in a squalid flat. A neighbour, whose husband is also in Germany, has fallen pregnant and is trying to lose the baby. Marie helps her successfully. Other women come to her and she starts charging.

While talking with Paul following his release, she reveals that a fortune teller saw "nothing but good things" in her future, along with a lot of women, which she would not clarify. Marie confesses to wanting to be a famous singer. She has, however, lost her love for her husband, who has been wounded and struggles to stay in employment, and rejects his crude and abrupt sexual demands.

Although he cannot find work, he rents a bigger flat at her prompting. Marie continues her illicit business and lets prostitutes use their bedrooms during the day. When one of the abortions goes wrong, the woman dies and her despairing husband commits suicide. Marie shrugs off the tragedy and hires a maid to help. She visits a music teacher, who tells her that she has a great voice.

She also starts a daytime affair with a collaborator and offers the maid a pay raise if she sleeps with Paul. Paul is unhappy with this arrangement and, after he returns home early and witnesses Marie and her lover asleep together, he sends an anonymous denunciation to the police, alerting them to her illegal activities.

A recent law of the Vichy régime, determined to enforce morality and stop population decline, has made abortion a treasonable crime. Marie is condemned to death and guillotined.

Cast

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Release

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The film had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 1988.[1] It premiered in France on September 21, 1988.[3] In the United States, the film premiered on October 13, 1989 in New York City.[4] It began its theatrical run in the US in February 1990.

On October 8, 1988, during a screening of the film at a cinema in the Montparnasse neighborhood of Paris, an audience member died of a heart attack after Christian fundamentalist terrorists threw a tear gas canister into the crowd.[5]

Critical reception

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In a positive review for The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote "Isabelle Huppert has an uncanny ability to convey self-interest on the screen, a quality rendered even steelier by the utter indifference with which it is displayed."[4] She added, "Mr. Chabrol, whose career has had its distinct ups and downs and whose work has barely been shown here in recent years, makes a triumphant return to the kind of emblematic crime story that has long attracted him, in films as different as Violette (1978) and Le Boucher (1971)."[4]

In the Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas wrote, "As a mature work of a master, 'Story of Women'...has a terrific sense of immediacy, an enormous vitality and a deep and broad perspective. It's as if Chabrol is reminding us that social change, inevitably slow and painful as it is, is possible even in the face of seemingly immutable human nature."[6] He continued: "Timely--and scathing--as 'Story of Women' is regarding abortion and women's rights, it is above all a terse, tragic yet exhilarating evocation of the most painful period in modern French history."[6] He also praised Huppert's performance, saying she "has that rare gift that Garbo had in sublime abundance: She is able to give you a complete woman, yet remain a radiant enigma in her beauty and dignity".[6]

Accolades

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Award Category Nominee Result Ref.
Bogotá Film Festival Best Actress Isabelle Huppert Won
Best Screenplay Colo Tavernier O'Hagan, Claude Chabrol Won
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Foreign Language Film Won [7]
Cahiers du Cinéma's Annual Top 10 Lists Best Film Claude Chabrol Nominated [8]
César Awards Best Actress Isabelle Huppert Nominated [9]
Best Supporting Actress Marie Trintignant Nominated
Best Director Claude Chabrol Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Foreign Language Film Nominated [10]
Kansas City Film Critics Best Foreign Language Film Won [11]
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Foreign Language Film Claude Chabrol Won[a] [12]
National Board of Review Awards Best Foreign Film Won [13]
Top Foreign Films Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Foreign Language Film Won [14]
Sant Jordi Awards Best Foreign Actress Isabelle Huppert Won
Valladolid International Film Festival Best Actress Won [15]
Silver Spike for Best Film Claude Chabrol Won
Golden Spike for Best Film Nominated
Venice International Film Festival Volpi Cup for Best Actress Isabelle Huppert Won[b] [6][1][15]
Filmcritica "Bastone Bianco" Award - Special Mention Claude Chabrol Won
Golden Ciak for Best Film Won
Golden Lion Nominated

The film was ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film as France had submitted Camille Claudel.[14]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Tied with Terence Davies for Distant Voices, Still Lives
  2. ^ Tied with Shirley MacLaine for Madame Sousatzka

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Ermanno Olmi Wins Prize At Venice Film Festival". The New York Times. 10 September 1988. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  2. ^ "MARYLAND FILM FESTIVAL". Baltimore Sun. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  3. ^ "Une affaire de femmes". JP Box Office. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Maslin, Janet (13 October 1989). "Review/Film; Huppert as an Abortionist, in Chabrol's 'Story of Women'". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  5. ^ Greenspun, Roger (25 October 1988). "Police Suspect Arson In Fire at Paris Theater". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d Thomas, Kevin (26 October 1989). "MOVIE REVIEW : 'Women': Study of Corruption, Hypocrisy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  7. ^ "Past Winners". thebsfc.org. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  8. ^ "Cahiers du Cinéma 1988". mistdriven.com. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  9. ^ "14th César Awards". Allociné. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  10. ^ "Story of Women". Golden Globes. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  11. ^ "KCFCC Award Winners – 1980-89". Kansas City Film Critics Circle. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  12. ^ "1989". lafca.net. Archived from the original on 13 October 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  13. ^ "1989 Archives". National Board of Review. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  14. ^ a b "Crix '89 Picks a Wide-Ranging Mix". Variety. 20 December 1989. p. 7.
  15. ^ a b "Story of Women (1988) Awards". mubi.com. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
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