''A French Woman'' () is a 1995 French

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Régis Wargnier Régis Wargnier (; born 18 April 1948) is a French film director, film producer, screenwriter and film score composer. His 1992 film ''Indochine (film), Indochine'' won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 65th Academy Awards. ...

Plot

Shortly after marrying Louis (

Daniel Auteuil Daniel Auteuil (; born 24 January 1950) is a French actor and director who has appeared in a wide range of film genres, including period dramas, romantic comedies, and crime thrillers. In 1996 he won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Fest ...

), a French military officer, Jeanne (

Emmanuelle Béart Emmanuelle Béart (born 14 August 1963)
''Tecinema.jeuxactu.com''. Retrieved 21 April 2020. is a F ...

) must face solitude as Louis is sent to fight in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. While waiting for his return from a

POW camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, an ...

, Jeanne gets involved in different affairs with her husband's comrades-in-arms. When he finally returns home and finds out about his wife's cheating, he forgives her and offers her freedom, but she refuses to accept and they come back together. Looking for a new life, the family (now with two twins) move to Berlin, where Jeanne meets Matthias, a German industrialist who falls in love with her. A third child is born and shortly after, Louis is summoned to the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

, forcing his family to return to France. During her husband's absence, Jeanne gets involved in an affair with Matthias, who has followed her to France. They try to escape with the children but their attempt is frustrated by Louis' brother. Louis returns home and, in an attempt to get Matthias out of her life, Jeanne uses her influence to move the family to Damascus. Despite her apparent success, she asks Matthias to go to Damascus and take her with him. When he shows up, Louis fights him but is severely injured by Jeanne. The family returns to France, where Louis is asked to fight in Algeria. Haunted by loneliness and despair, Jeanne once again finds Matthias, but he breaks up with her for good. Louis returns and meets his family, but he has to part again. During his absence, Jeanne dies without a cause, but he later finds in her purse a newspaper clipping informing of Matthias' death.

Cast

Emmanuelle Béart Emmanuelle Béart (born 14 August 1963)
''Tecinema.jeuxactu.com''. Retrieved 21 April 2020. is a F ...

as Jeanne *

as Louis *

Gabriel Barylli Gabriel Barylli (born 31 May 1957) is an Austrian actor and film director. He has appeared in more than 40 films and television shows since 1981. He won the Silver St. George award for Best Actor for his role in ''A French Woman'' at the 19th Mo ...

as Mathias Behrens *

Jean-Claude Brialy Jean-Claude Brialy (30 March 1933 – 30 May 2007) was a French actor and film director. Early life Brialy was born in Aumale (now Sour El-Ghozlane), French Algeria, where his father was stationed with the French Army. Brialy moved to mainland ...

as Arnoult *

Geneviève Casile Genevieve (; ; also called ''Genovefa'' and ''Genofeva''; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) was a consecrated virgin, and is one of the two patron saints of Paris in the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. Her feast day is on 3 January. Reco ...

as Solange *

Michel Etcheverry Michel Etcheverry (16 December 1919 – 30 March 1999) was a French actor. First a teacher, he was fired in 1941 for refusing to make the Maréchal children sing, here we come! . He began his career in the theater as a stage manager, then joined ...

as Charles * Laurence Masliah as Helene * Jean-Noël Brouté as Marc * Isabelle Guiard as Mathilde *

François Caron François Caron (; 1600 – 5 April 1673) was a French Huguenot refugee to the Netherlands who served the Dutch East India Company (''Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie'' or VOC) for 30 years, rising from cook's mate to the director-general at ...

as Andre * Maria Fitzi as Liseul *

Samuel Le Bihan Samuel Le Bihan (born 2 November 1965) is a French actor, known for his role in '' Brotherhood of the Wolf'' and TV series ''Alex Hugo''. He was awarded a knighthood in the Legion of Honour in 2024 for his work on behalf of children with autism ...

as Henri * Pierre Cassignard as The Inspector

Production

Filming began in August 1994 in Nancy, where the

Place Stanislas The Place Stanislas is a large Pedestrian zone, pedestrianised Town Square, square in the France, French city of Nancy, France, Nancy, in the Lorraine historic region. Built between 1752 and 1756 on the orders of Stanislaus I, former King of Polan ...

was covered in sand to restore its pre-World War II appearance. The production also shot on the

parvis A parvis or parvise is the open space in front of and around a cathedral or Church (building) , church, especially when surrounded by either colonnades or porticoes, as at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It is thus a church-specific type of forec ...

of the Basilique Saint-Epvre and in a building on the avenue Anatole-France where the director reconstructed his childhood apartment. The production also traveled to shoot at the ruins of the ancient city of

Apamea Apamea or Apameia () is the name of several Hellenistic cities in western Asia, after Apama, the Sogdian wife of Seleucus I Nicator, several of which are also former bishoprics and Catholic titular see. Places called Apamea include: Asia Minor ...

in Syria.

Awards

19th Moscow International Film Festival The 19th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 17 to 28 July 1995. The Golden St. George was not awarded. Jury * Richard Gere (United States – President of the Jury) * Friedrich Gorenstein (Germany) * Aurelio De Laurentiis (Italy) ...

** Silver St. George for the Direction:

** Silver St. George (Best Actor):

** Silver St. George (Best Actress):

Emmanuelle Béart Emmanuelle Béart (born 14 August 1963)
''Tecinema.jeuxactu.com''. Retrieved 21 April 2020. is a F ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:French Woman 1995 films 1995 drama films 1990s French-language films French drama films Films directed by Régis Wargnier Films scored by Patrick Doyle 1990s French films Films shot in Nancy, France Films shot in Syria