critics consensus

One of the last times Godard could make film paradoxes with glee, A Woman Is a Woman is a mocking, genuine tribute to musicals. Read critic reviews

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Death Is a Woman Photos

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Movie Info

A British narcotics agent (Mark Burns) links a woman (Patsy Ann Noble) to Mediterranean murder and heroin.

Genre:

mystery and thriller
Original Language:

English
Director:

Frederic Goode
Writer:

Wally Bosco
Runtime:

1h 20m

Cast & Crew

Patsy Ann Noble
Francesca

Mark Burns
Dennis Parbury

Shaun Curry
Joe

Frederic Goode
Director

Wally Bosco
Screenwriter

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Critic Reviews for Death Is a Woman

All Critics (34) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (28) | Rotten (6)

The result is brash, defiant, gaudy and infinitely fragile.

January 26, 2006 | Full Review…

Time Out
A charming document of the great filmmaker's fanciful yet serious dreams for cinema.

November 21, 2003 | Rating: 3/4

Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
A Woman Is a Woman may not have the urgency or the contradictions that made early Godard an icon, but in its new incarnation, it takes us back to a time when he could still provide the makings of a good argument.

November 7, 2003 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press
The most playful film to come out of the French New Wave, it's also the last time Jean-Luc Godard appeared to have any fun.

September 5, 2003 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Une Femme Est une Femme moves us now because it's so playful and the players are so young.

July 29, 2003 | Rating: 4/4

Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
A Woman Is a Woman is slight and sometimes wearisome... A minor chapter in an early career.

July 25, 2003 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
...a prototypically useless endeavor from Godard...

July 25, 2020 | Rating: 1/4 | Full Review…

David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
It is this feeling of freedom that pervades the entire film and makes it so exciting, so significant to the true nature of experiencing the full imact of the cinema.

February 5, 2020 | Full Review…

Lewis Teague
Los Angeles Free Press
A monotonously scratching, capering version of a hack Arthur Freed musical, perhaps the most soporific, conceited, sluggish movie of all time.

June 18, 2019 | Full Review…

Manny Farber
Artforum
Analytical whimsy, captivating dissonance

December 8, 2013 | Full Review…

Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion
In it's (own very funny) way, the inverting bricolage syntax of A Woman is a Woman is as challenging to comprehend as the allusive consciousness stream of an Eliot poem

July 7, 2011 | Rating: 83/100 | Full Review…

Dan Jardine
Cinemania
It has a certain smugness about it that has always kept me at a distance from enjoying a Godard film.

July 14, 2008 | Rating: C+ | Full Review…

Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

View All Critic Reviews (34)

Audience Reviews for Death Is a Woman

Mar 14, 2013

A Woman Is a Woman is a very funny, observant, and unique comedy about gender roles and marriage, and one that is gorgeous to look at. It has a very interesting style to say the least, and a number of great scenes, my favorite being the ones in which Jean-Claude Brialy and the lovely Anna Karina silently argue with each other using only the covers of books on their bookshelf to call each other names. It's nothing too deep or heavy, but A Woman Is a Woman is nonetheless a very fun and enjoyable comedy from French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard.

Joey S Super Reviewer
Jan 22, 2013

Godard at his most playful. The jumbled score and dialogue make a one of a kind anti movie experience.

Graham J Super Reviewer
Oct 16, 2011

On the surface this is Godard's most playful and funny movie. However, under the inundation of music (enough to make Scorsese blush), self-aware treatment of typical Hollywood comedies, the constant breaking of the fourth wall, and exceptional photographic beauty, is a feeling of loneliness. 'A Woman Is a Woman' is Godard's revolutionist take on Hollywood genres that is a masterpiece and a joy to watch. Anna Karina is a beauty. For a great double feature watch 'A Woman Is a Woman' then 'Punch-Drunk Love'.

Jonny B Super Reviewer
Sep 30, 2011

This film takes you on a down-to-earth roller coaster ride as you watch to learn what the true meaning of love is. As Angela (a practising night club stripper) is unsure of her love for her current boyfriend (Emile), she believes the only way to finalize her love is to have a child with him. He refuses and believes that they have all the time in the world. As she results to talking to Emile's best friend, she is now in the middle of a split decision between whether or not to love him. This film truly represents what a romance film needs to be. The title suits the film picture perfectly, the story is basic, yet beautifully told, the editing is unique, the comedy/tragedy shakespeare references are amazing and wonderfully interpreted, but the real thing that this has to make it such a classic, it that it has random moments of musical numbers that will make any audience member smile. This film feels like the best play ever made, placed on screen! "Une Femme Est Une Femme" is a masterpiece!

KJ P Super Reviewer