Story of Women

Inspired by a true criminal case in WWII occupied France, this compelling drama features a knockout performance by Isabelle Huppert as Marie Latour, a young woman who performs an abortion for a friend, and then decides to help other women "in trouble" for money. Living in a ramshackle apartment with her recently returned from the war husband Paul (Francois Cluzet) and their two young children, Marie manages to make enough money to move the family into a nicer place. Striking up a friendship with a prostitute, she offers one of the rooms for daytime let, and charges competitive rental fees. Eventually, she has enough income to afford a maid, whom she instructs to sleep with her husband, a duty she loathes and avoids. Initially, the viewer tends to sympathize with Marie's plight, and if she seems a little distant, we sense that she's struggling to keep kith and kin together. Yet, as the film progresses, we begin to understand that Marie is much more complex, that she embodies a kind of cold evil. In the morally self-righteous political system of downtrodden France, Marie meets her opposite, a hot, much more palpable, evil that willfully destroys. Story of Women, masterfully directed by Claude Chabrol, picked up several Best Foreign Film honors last year. It is a haunting film that stays with you long after it's over. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman) [DVD Review--July 27, 2004--Home Vision, 108 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, $19.95--Making its debut on DVD, 1988's Story of Women sports a good transfer and solid mono sound, as well as a 24-minute featurette with Chabrol commenting on specific scenes, a two-minute voiceover-stills introduction by critic Jöel Magny, a four-minute interview with producer Marin Karmitz, an eight-minute interview with writer Francis Szpiner, a trailer, and a booklet with both an essay by film critic Wheeler Winston Dixon and a director's filmography. Bottom line: a fine extras package for one of Chabrol's best films.]