''La Prisonnière'' (also known as ''Woman in Chains'') is a 1968

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film written and directed by

Henri-Georges Clouzot Henri-Georges Clouzot (; 20 November 1907 – 12 January 1977) was a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his work in the thriller film genre, having directed '' The Wages of Fear'' (1953) and '' Les Diabo ...

. It follows an attractive young woman living with an avant-garde artist who falls disastrously for the voyeuristic owner of the gallery that shows her husband's work. Clouzot's only film completed in colour, it was the last of his career. Henri-Georges and Vera Clouzot 1953b

Plot

Stanislas, a wealthy unmarried owner of an art gallery in Paris, is friend and patron to Gilbert, a creator of progressive artworks, who lives in a little suburban flat with José, a television editor. At the opening night of an exhibition, Gilbert goes off with an attractive young woman who is an influential critic. Left alone, José goes back with Stanislas to his luxurious flat, where he shows her a photograph he had taken of a naked woman in bondage. Though she is shocked and leaves, the allure of Stanislas and of his pornographic image works in her mind until one day she asks him if she can sit in on a photo session. Finding herself increasingly excited by the rising erotic tension of the shoot and by the sexiness of the pretty young model, José angers Stanislas by leaving in confusion. The two make it up, however, and José starts posing for him, but she wants more than this artificial connection. Gilbert, unhappy with her unexplained absences, goes on a business trip to Germany, and José and Stanislas travel together to an inn in Brittany. After a night together, Stanislas has second thoughts and abandons her there. Deeply hurt at this behaviour, José tells all to Gilbert on his return. He rushes off to Stanislas' flat, intending to kill him, but the two reach a sort of reconciliation. Following in her own car, José shoots a level crossing and is hit by a train. Coming out of her coma in hospital, she thinks that Gilbert, waiting by the bedside, is Stanislas come to reclaim her.

Cast

Laurent Terzieff Laurent Terzieff (27 June 1935 – 2 July 2010) was a French actor and theatre director. Biography Terzieff was the son of French ceramist Bernard Fresson Bernard Fresson (27 May 1931 – 20 October 2002) was a French actor who primarily worked in film. Biography Born in Reims to a French baker, Fresson attended the Lycée privé Sainte-Geneviève, majoring in law. He studied in Tania Balachova ...

as Gilbert, an avant-garde artist * Dany Carrel as Maguy, Stanislas' model *

Claude Piéplu Claude Léon Auguste Piéplu (9 May 1923, Paris – 24 May 2006, Paris) was a French theatre, film and television actor. He was known for his hoarse and frayed voice.Darío Moreno David Arugete (; 3 April 1921 – 1 December 1968), commonly known under his stage name Darío Moreno, was a Turkish-Jewish polyglot singer, an accomplished composer, lyricist, and guitarist. He attained fame and made a remarkable career centr ...

as Sala, Stanislas' butler and driver *

Michel Piccoli Jacques Daniel Michel Piccoli (27 December 1925 – 12 May 2020) was a French actor, producer and film director with a career spanning 70 years. He was lauded as one of the greatest French character actors of his generation who played a wide vari ...

as a guest at the gallery *

Charles Vanel Charles-Marie Vanel (21 August 1892 – 15 April 1989) was a French actor and director. During his 65-year film career, which began in 1923, he appeared in more than 200 films and worked with many prominent directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, ...

as a guest at the gallery * Joanna Shimkus as a guest at the gallery *

Jackie Sardou Jackie Sardou (7 April 1919 – 2 April 1998) was a French actress. Personal life She was born Jacqueline Labbé in Paris, and married Fernand Sardou, a singer. She was the mother of singer Michel Sardou Michel Charles Sardou (; born 26 J ...

as the cashier

Themes

The film is close in theme to some other pictures of the time. Both

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

's ''

Blowup ''Blowup'' (also styled ''Blow-Up'') is a 1966 Psychological thriller, psychological Mystery film, mystery film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, co-written by Antonioni, Tonino Guerra and Edward Bond and produced by Carlo Ponti. It is Antoni ...

'' (1966) and

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company Powell and Pressburger, The Archers, they together wrote, produced ...

's ''

Peeping Tom Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. She is mainly remembere ...

'' (1960) explored the dark links between men who make erotic images of women, films about such men and their models, and the viewers of such films, while

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish and Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

's '' Belle de Jour'' (1967) acted out the sadomasochistic fantasies of a beautiful middle-class woman. Contemporary also are its visual elements of pop and psychedelic art, including a striking dream sequence reminiscent of

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

's '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968); similar use of these elements can be found in Clouzot's aborted earlier film '' L'Enfer''.

Reception

Review sites surveyed on 17 February 2016 give ratings of 67% at SensCritique, 70% at Rotten Tomatoes, and 72% at AlloCiné.

Notes

References

External links

* *
''La Prisonnière''
at

Variety Distribution Variety Distribution is an Italian-based film distribution company. It distributes Italian films worldwide, produced from the 1930s onward. History Variety Distribution (formerly Variety Film and Variety Communications) has been in the film ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prisonniere, La 1968 films 1968 drama films 1960s French films 1960s French-language films 1960s Italian films BDSM in films Films about photography Films directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot Films produced by Robert Dorfmann Films shot in Finistère Films shot in Hauts-de-Seine Films shot in Paris Films shot in Seine-et-Marne Films shot in Val-de-Marne Films with screenplays by Henri-Georges Clouzot French drama films French-language Italian films Italian drama films