''A Woman's Case'' ( he, מקרה אישה, tr. ''Mikreh Isha'') is a

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

dramatic

art film An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

, the first

film to be screened at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

, directed by

Jacques Katmor Jacques Mory-Katmor ( he, ז׳אק מורי־קתמור) (born 4 September 1938 in Cairo, Cairo Governorate, Egypt as Jacques Mory; died 6 September 2001 at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv District, Israel) was an Israe ...

, and, usually, categorized as belonging to the

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

and

anarchistic Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessaril ...

movement. The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

NMC Music NMC Music ( he, אן אם סי) is an Israeli record label. It was established in 1964 as a subsidiary company of CBS, and became independent in 1988. Artists represented by NMC include Noa Kirel, Mashina, Yehuda Poliker, Shlomi Shabat, Chava ...

. Cinematographer and coscreenwriter

Amnon Salomon Amnon Salomon ( he, אמנון סלומון; April 3, 1940 – October 23, 2011) was an Israeli film cinematographer. He was a recipient of the Ophir Award for cinematography. Biography Salomon was born in Tel Aviv in 1940 to a Hungarian-Jewish ...

stated, during an interview, held late in life, that the film's origin is in Katmor's early exhibition, dealing with the female body, and, that the filmmakers had no commercial motivations.

Synopsis

This modernist and non-linear film, influenced by the

French New Wave French New Wave (french: La Nouvelle Vague) is a French art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentation and a spirit of iconocla ...

, and, especially, by films such as ''

Jules and Jim ''Jules and Jim'' (french: Jules et Jim ) is a 1962 French New Wave romantic drama film, directed, produced and written by François Truffaut. Set before and after World War I, it describes a tragic love triangle involving French Bohemian Jim ...

'' and '' Breathless'', tells the story of an advertiser (Yossi Spector), in his forties, who meets Helit (), a model in her twenties, and together the two spend a day in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

and

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. The model leads the advertiser into cafés and drug-fueled orgies, while, he leads her into the workshops of sculptors, so, that they could create sculptures, modeled on her body, out of

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. ...

. While she tries to liberate his mind, he attempts to stay where he is. The film ends with the advertiser strangling Helit to death, during a

sadomasochistic Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

session.

Reception

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and '' Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms, ...

'' compared the film to the works of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran� ...

, and,

Michelangelo Antonioni Michelangelo Antonioni (, ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian filmmaker. He is best known for directing his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents"—''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and ''L'Eclisse'' (1962 ...

, with the acting of being compared to that of

Monica Vitti Monica Vitti (born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli; 3 November 1931 – 2 February 2022) was an Italian actress who starred in several award-winning films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni during the 1960s. After working with Antonioni, Vitti changed f ...

, writer

Yoram Kaniuk Yoram ( or ) is a name derived from Jehoram (), meaning "Jehovah is exalted" in Biblical Hebrew, which was the name of several individuals in the Tanakh; the female version of this name is Athaliah. Notable people with the name include: *Yoram Ar ...

wrote that the film is a critique of the horrors of the modern world, and, ''

Davar ''Davar'' ( he, דבר, lit. ''Word'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the British Mandate of Palestine and Israel between 1925 and May 1996. It was relaunched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an online outlet by th ...

'' compared the film to painting. The film, however, was a commercial failure, with only 38,000 tickets sold, due to its highly avant-garde nature.

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

sociologist, Prof. Dr. , wrote that film's main theme is the independent woman's, unsuccessful, attempt to free the man, from the shackles of his masculinity, and, noted that it was one of the first

films to express their director's personal view.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Woman's Case, A 1960s avant-garde and experimental films 1969 drama films 1969 independent films 1969 films Anti-modernist films BDSM in films Films about advertising Films about anarchism Films about death Films about drugs Films about modeling Films about the visual arts Films directed by Jacques Katmor Films set in Jerusalem Films set in restaurants Films set in Tel Aviv Films shot in Israel 1960s Hebrew-language films Hippie films Israeli avant-garde and experimental films Israeli black-and-white films Israeli crime drama films Israeli independent films Nonlinear narrative films Women and death 1969 directorial debut films