Search a film or person :
FacebookConnectionRegistration
A Gentle Woman is a french film of genre Drama directed by Robert Bresson with Dominique Sanda

A Gentle Woman (1969)

A Gentle Woman
If you like this film, let us know!
Length 1h45
Directed by
OriginFrance
Genres Drama,    Romance
Rating73% 3.690113.690113.690113.690113.69011

Une femme douce (English title: A Gentle Woman) is a 1969 French drama film directed by Robert Bresson. It is Bresson's first film in color, and adapted from Fyodor Dostoevsky's short story "A Gentle Creature (Кроткая)". The film was set in Paris at the time.

The tragic drama is characterised by Bresson's well known ascetic style, without any dynamic sequences or professional actors' experienced and excessive expressions. Dominique Sanda, 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. [1]

Although the film applies a background of 60s Paris, such as Muséum national d'histoire naturelle and Musée National d'Art Moderne, 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) (1971) based on White Nights.

Synopsis

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 (Dominique Sanda), 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 A Gentle Creature -- 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, which plays out in an extended scene). Their dialogue only deepens her isolation and sadness.

Actors

Dominique Sanda

(Elle)
Jacques Kébadian

(Le dragueur)
Dorothée Blanck

(L'infirmière)
Trailer of A Gentle Woman

Bluray, DVD

Streaming / VOD

Source : Wikidata

Comments


Leave comment :

Suggestions of similar film to A Gentle Woman

There are 43 films with the same actors, 14 films with the same director, 66771 with the same cinematographic genres (including 13109 with exactly the same 2 genres than A Gentle Woman), to have finally 70 suggestions of similar films.

If you liked A Gentle Woman, you will probably like those similar films :
Lancelot of the Lake, 1h20
Directed by Robert Bresson, Bernard Cohn
Origin France
Genres Drama, War, Fantasy, Historical, Romance
Themes Films about magic and magicians
Actors Laura Duke Condominas, Luc Simon
Rating68% 3.441363.441363.441363.441363.44136
King Arthur has sent out 100 knights to retrieve the Holy Grail. Arthur is dismayed when it turns out that the mission was futile and 70 knights have died in its course. Among those who have returned is the Queen's lover Lancelot. Soon Lancelot again takes part in a tournament. There he gets injured. While Lancelot seeks recovery in his own castle, Arthur learns about his wife's affair and, heavily agitated by Mordred, he puts Queen Guinevre in prison. With Lancelot's help she breaks out. Arthur starts immediately a campaign against the castle where the lovers were looking for shelter. During the siege Mordred Lancelet happens to kill his old mate Gawain. Driven by sorrow he tries to end the fight and wants to negotiate a treaty with King Arthur. When he witnesses how Mordred commits an attempt on Arthur he joins without hesitating the side of the king. In the end Arthur and Lancelot and all the other knights of the legendary round table are slaughtered.
Four Nights of a Dreamer, 1h27
Directed by Robert Bresson
Origin France
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Isabelle Weingarten, Patrick Jouané, Lidia Biondi, Jacques Renard
Rating72% 3.6442053.6442053.6442053.6442053.644205
The film begins in Paris with Jacques, an unidentified young man, trying to hitchike a ride. He travels to the countryside with a family and spends the day walking alone. He whistles and rolls somersaults. The scene cuts back to traffic at night in the city, and the opening credits appear. The next scene is of Marthe, standing at a bridge, at the brink of suicide. Jacques is walking by and stops her. He urges her back onto the street, indicating a police car stopped nearby. They sit by the bridge and chat about their lives. The scene cuts to flashbacks.
Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne, 1h24
Directed by Robert Bresson
Origin France
Genres Drama, Romantic drama, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality, Erotic films, Films about prostitution, Erotic thriller films
Actors Maria Casarès, Élina Labourdette, Lucienne Bogaert, Paul Bernard, Jean Marchat, Yvette Etiévant
Rating71% 3.5951553.5951553.5951553.5951553.595155
Hélène and Jean have pledged their love to each other, but are not engaged to marry. Their love affair allows dalliances with others, but they have promised to put each other first above all others. Hélène has been warned by a friend that Jean's love for her has cooled and fears this is correct. She tricks him into confessing, by pretending her own feelings for him have cooled to a friendship. She hides her shock and dismay when he enthusiastically accepts her as now just a friend instead of a lover. After he leaves her apartment, it is clear that she is devastated. But instead of mourning her love, she decides to exact a cruel revenge on him.
A Man Escaped, 1h35
Directed by Robert Bresson
Origin France
Genres Drama, War, Thriller, Documentary, Historical
Themes French war films, Prison films, Political films, Évasion, Films about capital punishment, Histoire de France, L'Occupation allemande en France
Actors François Leterrier, Roland Monod, Maurice Beerblock, Jacques Ertaud, Roger Planchon
Rating81% 4.0966354.0966354.0966354.0966354.096635
After the establishing shot of Montluc prison, but before the opening credits, the camera rests on a plaque commemorating the 7,000 prisoners who died at the hands of the Nazis.
Angels of Sin, 1h36
Directed by Robert Bresson
Origin France
Genres Drama
Themes Films about religion
Actors Renée Faure, Jany Holt, Sylvie, Mila Parély, Silvia Monfort, Louis Seigner
Rating72% 3.641693.641693.641693.641693.64169
Anne-Marie (Renée Faure), a well-off young woman, decides to become a nun, joining a convent that rehabilitates female prisoners. Through their program, she meets a woman named Thérèse (Jany Holt) who refuses any help because she says she was innocent of the crime she was convicted for. After being released from prison, Thérèse murders the man she feels is responsible for her imprisonment and comes to seek sanctuary from the law in the convent. Anne-Marie clashes with her sisters and elders over her zealousness to reform Thérèse, who manipulates and antagonizes her.
The Trial of Joan of Arc, 1h5
Directed by Robert Bresson
Origin France
Genres Drama, War, Historical
Themes Prison films, Films about religion, Jeanne d'Arc, Political films, Histoire de France
Actors Florence Delay, Donald O'Brien, Michael Williams, Gérard Zingg
Rating73% 3.6959353.6959353.6959353.6959353.695935
Jeanne is incarcerated. She can only leave her prison cell when the court demands her appearance for further interrogation. The judges show no empathy and it becomes increasingly obvious that they are about to sentence her to death but Jeanne remains nonchalant.
Au Hasard Balthazar, 1h35
Directed by Claude Miller, Robert Bresson, Jacques Kébadian
Origin France
Genres Drama, Crime
Themes Films about religion
Actors Anne Wiazemsky
Rating77% 3.8975153.8975153.8975153.8975153.897515
The film follows Marie (Wiazemsky), a shy farm girl, and her beloved donkey Balthazar over many years. As Marie grows up, the pair becomes separated, but the film traces both their fates as they live parallel lives, continually taking abuse of all forms from the people they encounter. The donkey has several owners, most of whom exploit him, often with more cruelty than kindness. He bears his suffering with nobility and wisdom, becoming a saint in the process. Balthazar and Marie often suffer at the hands of the same people. But in the end, Marie's fate remains unresolved, whereas the donkey's is clear.
The Devil, Probably, 1h33
Directed by Robert Bresson
Origin France
Genres Drama
Actors Laetitia Carcano, Marie Rivère
Rating70% 3.5449353.5449353.5449353.5449353.544935
Charles, Michel et quelques-uns de leurs amis forment un petit groupe écologiste, qui se préoccupe de la famine, de la pollution et de l'avenir du monde. Michel est un militant qui cherche à lutter avec ses modestes moyens, tandis que Charles refuse l'engagement, dégoûté par le monde qui l'entoure.
L'Argent
L'Argent (1984)
, 1h25
Directed by Robert Bresson, Olivier Péray
Origin France
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Actors Caroline Langrishe, François-Marie Banier, Pierre Tessier
Rating73% 3.6941853.6941853.6941853.6941853.694185
A young man enters his father's study to claim a monthly allowance. His father obliges, but the son presses for more, citing a debt at school he must pay. The father dismisses him and an appeal to his mother fails. This leads him to pawn off his watch to a friend who, instead of paying him, provides him with a forged 500-franc note. After the trade, the youth lingers to peruse an album of nude art, with similar images to appear throughout the film.
Pickpocket
Pickpocket (1959)
, 1h13
Directed by Robert Bresson
Origin France
Genres Drama, Crime
Actors Martin LaSalle, Marika Green, Jean Pélégri, Pierre Étaix, Dominique Zardi
Rating75% 3.796653.796653.796653.796653.79665
Michel (Martin LaSalle) goes to a horse race and steals some money from a spectator. He leaves the racetrack confident that he was not caught when he is suddenly arrested. The inspector (Jean Pélégri) releases Michel because the evidence is not strong enough. Michel soon falls in with a small group of professional pickpockets who teach him their trade and invite him to join them on highly coordinated pickpocketing sprees in crowded public areas.