Arrow Films is thrilled to announce the release of critically acclaimed, A WOMAN’S LIFE by award-winning Director Stéphane Brizé (The Measure of a Man, Mademoiselle Chambon) in UK cinemas from 12th January 2018.
Written by Stéphane Brizé and Florence Vignon and based on the novel by Guy de Maupassant, A WOMAN’S LIFE is produced by Miléna Poylo & Gilles Sacuto and stars Judith Chemla (Beautiful Lies, Camille Rewinds), Jean-Pierre Darroussin (Le Havre, A Very Long Engagement) and Yolande Moreau (Amelie, Seraphine). The film won the prestigious FIPRESCI Award for Best Film in Competition at Venice Film Festival 2016 and was nominated for the Golden Lion.
A WOMAN’S LIFE was written before Director Stéphane Brizé’s last film, The Measure of a Man and was being financed while the latter was being written and produced. Although they ended up following one another, this project was born twenty years ago, after Florence Vignon, co-screenwriter of the film, introduced him to the novel.
Director Stéphane Brizé said of his two most recent films: “The context may be different, but I see a common thread running through all my films, including these last two. Jeanne and Thierry, the character played by Vincent Lindon, are both very idealistic regarding life. Thierry expresses his ideals by refusing his unbearable situation; Jeanne expresses hers through an extreme trust in humanity. Of course, the contexts are so far apart that the stories are naturally going to be different. But I see a connection between these characters, beyond their time period and social situation.”
Jay Weissberg, VARIETY writes “A Woman’s Life has the kind of majesty found not in the grand gesture but the modest detail, the kind that accumulates resonance with each seemingly minor event until the picture of a character becomes as complete as a painting by Ingres. Or a story by Maupassant.”
Normandy, 1819. Jeanne is a young woman full of childish dreams and innocence when she returns home after finishing her schooling in a convent. She marries a local Viscount, Julien de Lamare, who soon reveals himself to be a miserly and unfaithful man. Little by little Jeanne’s illusions are stripped away.
