The Love of a Woman

Jean Grémillon was one of the great French film directors of the Golden Age but one of the least known to American audiences. His 1953 final feature film is set in the rural, conservative culture of an island community of sailors off the coast of France. Micheline Presle stars as the new doctor, a single, relatively young woman who must prove herself to a population suspicious of outsiders whose culture is steeped in chauvinism. Massimo Girotti is an Italian engineer working on the island who challenges provincial attitudes as he romances the doctor but also proves to be trapped in traditional views of marriage when he forces her to choose between love and career. The location photography on the beautiful island gives the film a magnificent palette, both poetic and naturalistic. And while The Love of a Woman never directly challenges the attitudes of the men, it is clear that the engineer realizes that the doctor's career is part of her identity, although he lacks the capacity to accept her as an equal. It's an intelligent, elegant film with lovely cinematography and fine performances that broaches feminist ideas with a directness and frankness that was rare in its day. Presented in a Blu-ray/DVD Combo set, extras include the feature-length French TV 1969 documentary In Search of Jean Grémillon. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)