''The Public Woman'' (french: La femme publique) is a 1984 French

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

inspired by

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

's 1872 novel ''

Demons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, anime, ...

'' and directed by

Andrzej Żuławski Andrzej Żuławski (; 22 November 1940 – 17 February 2016) was a Polish film director and writer. Żuławski often went against mainstream commercialism in his films, and enjoyed success mostly with European art-house audiences. In the late 1 ...

, starring

Valérie Kaprisky Valérie Kaprisky ( Chérès; born 19 August 1962) is a French actress. Life and career She was born Valerie Chérès on 19 August 1962 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Kaprisky is her Polish mother's maiden name. She is of Greek-Ottoman and Argentine de ...

Lambert Wilson Lambert Wilson (born 3 August 1958) is a French actor, singer and activist. He is best known internationally for his portrayal of The Merovingian in ''The Matrix Reloaded'', ''The Matrix Revolutions'' and ''The Matrix Resurrections''. Biograph ...

and

Francis Huster Francis Huster (born 8 December 1947) is a French stage, film and television actor, director and scriptwriter. Biography Francis Huster was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine. His father is Charles Huster, commercial director at Lancia, and his Poli ...

as the lead actors. The film had a total of 1,302,425 admissions in France where it was the 28th highest-grossing film of the year.

Plot summary

An inexperienced young actress is invited to play a role in a film based on Dostoevsky's novel ''Demons''. The film director, a Czech immigrant in Paris, takes over her life, and in a short time she is unable to draw the line between acting and reality. She winds up playing a real-life role posing as the dead wife of another Czech immigrant, who is manipulated by the filmmaker into committing a political assassination.

Awards

César Awards, France, 1985

;Nominated *Best Actress -

*Best Supporting Actor -

*Best Writing - Adaptation -

and

Dominique Garnier "Dominique" is a 1963 French language popular song, written and performed by the Belgian female singer Jeannine Deckers, better known as Sœur Sourire ("Sister Smile" in French) or The Singing Nun. The song is about Saint Dominic, a Spanish-bo ...

Montréal World Film Festival 1984

*Won Most Popular Film - Andrzej Żuławski *Won Special Prize of the Jury - Andrzej Żuławski

DVD releases

The film had its English-speaking debut on DVD in late 2008, when new label

Mondo Vision Mondo (Italian, Ido, and Esperanto for ''world''), may refer to: People * Michael Mondo, Papua New Guinean rugby league footballer *Mondo Guerra, American fashion designer * Armand ”Mondo” Duplantis, Swedish pole vaulter Computer science * ...

released the film as its debut title. The disc features a commentary from Andrzej Żuławski and a video interview, where he discusses Polish cinema and the film's production. The film is also available on DVD from LCJ Editions in France, IVC in Japan, and Minerva Pictures in Italy, but lack these extras.

References

External links

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Image comparison comparing the quality of different DVD releasesBagatellen.com reviewDVDTalk ReviewDVD Times Review
1984 films 1980s erotic drama films French erotic drama films Films about actors Films based on Russian novels Films based on works by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Films directed by Andrzej Żuławski 1984 drama films 1980s French-language films 1980s French films {{1980s-drama-film-stub