Very honest and subtle, both in terms of scenario & story and cinematography & mise en scene. Really sad, too.

Very dry.

A delicacy for anyone who expects cinema to challenge their perceptions and provoke thinking. Chabrol's movie establishes Marie (marvelously played by Isabelle Huppert) not only as a quack abortionist and pimp but also as a misandristic, adulterous, home-wrecking bitch. In short - everything that is immoral especially for women. The rest of her story then sheds new light on her "original sins", with the unbelievable consequences of her actions placing them in context and partly explaining them.

Huppert is fiercely accurate as a selfish, complex woman who is not at all likable but with whom we eventually--and greatly--sympathize. This is not only about one women in particular or even about the plight of women in general; it is also about how a society, faced with powerlessness, poverty and an existential threat can commit great crime. This could have been called "The Story of Vichy." Some day it may be our story too. (Chabrol's direction, of course, is masterful.)

Une affaire de femmes: 8 // 7 // 9 // 8 // 8 // 6 // 7

Dry, emotionally wretching subtle and direct film. Features one of Huppert's very best performances ever.