A Woman Kills — A Woman Kills(Blu Ray)

Here’s a ‘lost’ treasure from Radiance, released for the first time on blu-ray: Jean-Denis Bonan’s A Woman Kills, or La Femme-bourreau, failed to get distribution on its attempted release in 1968 and essentially disappeared until it was plucked from obscurity for a film festival in 2010. The acclaim it achieved there has eventually led to this release, packed with extras - though I should point out that I am only reviewing a promo disc and thus don’t have the full package, which includes a booklet. However, there’s more than enough on the disc, and to save you the time of reading all this, if you have a more critical interest in film, just go get it.

If you’re still reading, A Woman Kills is a genre-defying film engaging from beginning to end. It’s hard to narrate a reasonable plot summary without giving away huge spoilers, so I will merely say that the film begins with the execution of Hélène Picard, a sex worker sentenced to death for several murders; after Picard’s death similar murders occur, and one of the investigating officers, Solange Lebas, finds herself courted by Louis Guilbeau, the executioner of Picard. From thereon the films slowly opens out until its manic end section. (I realise that’s not a lot to go on, but the film stands on a distinct twist and I don’t want to ruin that.) First off, the film looks beautiful, not least because as a low-budget affair it was all shot on location. So there are wonderful shots of Paris streets, courtyards, and tight back alleys, as well as evocative scenes of Paris at night; these are accompanied by beautiful interior shots, and grimy stairways, waste ground, and ruined buildings. Particular credit has to go to a truly mesmerising shot looking down on the tracks of a train station, and another shot filming actors from under a bed frame. All of the actors are very ‘Sixties France’ with some glorious fashions, and the acting, whilst varied, is never awful; Claude Merlin, playing Guilbeau, has some wonderful moments, and he is joined on screen by no less a figure than Jean Rollin, a colleague of Bonan’s, playing a cop!

The music soundtrack is intriguing - though not always successful in my opinion. There’s lots of sixties freak-out improv (as I call it), but always focused and often restrained; however, this is joined by odd little vocal and guitar songs with lyrics that relate precisely to whatever’s happening on screen at that point - it's an odd effect, like a very wonky musical. This sense of oddness continues with sound effects which are sometimes excessively ladled onto the film, as well as voiceovers narrating the action according to police procedures; from an opposing angle there is also noticeably some background noise hubbub from the locations, traffic sounds during scenes inside buildings, for example. None of these things are criticisms in any way, but the film has a definite charm which might go either way with you. If this sounds slightly cerebral and arty, the film is strongly visceral; it’s full of urban grit and dilapidation, nudity, and surprisingly harsh lines like: ‘the victim was found with a broomstick in their anus.’ However this is paired with passages that hint at surrealism, or dream-like states, setting up an effective contrast and tension. It’s a great film, with the one complaint that it was initially slightly confusing, but it’s definitely a film with immense re-watch value.

A Woman Kills is complemented by a genuine treasure trove of material - truth be told I watched through the disc somewhat blind, and after watching the documentary on Bonan’s works thought to myself, ‘I have to see these films!’ - whereupon I discovered that the rest of the disc was indeed a selection of short films featuring those same works. The documentary is fantastic, interviewing Bonan and his associates, and creating an excellent context and sense of time for the disc’s films. Bonan grew up in Tunisia, and starting film making during the Algerian conflict, with his childhood giving him experience of French colonialism at first hand - an experience that blossomed into scathing political works like Tristesse des anthropophages, Une saison chez les hommes, and indeed A Woman Kills. Interestingly, in light of the sonic aspect of the latter film, Bonan states that he sees the visual image and sound as two distinct layers of film making - and two that need not marry up in conventional terms, explaining some of the sonic excesses. Bonan also explains how the May ’68 revolt began during the filming of A Woman Kills, and that he and the crew would flit from the film to the rioting, using the same camera to capture footage; these are genuinely exhilarating moments of the documentary which evoke the hope and turmoil of the times well. The short films themselves vary, though all carry interest. La Vie brève de Monsieur Meucieu (1962) is very much a first film but watchable, and this is followed by A Crime of Love (1965) which is merely rushes narrated by Bonan; however, Bonan leaps forward with 1966’s Tristesse des anthropophages (Sadness of the Anthropophagi), a film akin to A Woman Kills in terms of its uncategorisable contents - contents that saw the film not only banned in France but banned from export too, a rare feat. Again, I don’t wish to ruin the film but basically it’s a meditation on contemporary France, equating consumerism with eating shit - that should be enough to pique your interest. The film threatens to crumple into a low-budget ‘student art film’ at many points but there’s a gravity, a satirical anger, and a sense of big ideas that maintains its power. Mathieu-fou (1967) in many senses lays the foundations for A Woman Kills, with some very nice shots - as well as a scene with a hint of Viennese Aktionism - whilst the final film, Une saison chez les hommes (1967), possessing the same force as Tristesse des anthropophages, is created entirely from unused news footage covering events in France, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, and Chad, with an outsider’s narration by Bonan: it’s a compelling documentary on an alien world and culture that just happens to be our own. A very effective film indeed, and again one that will reward rewatching.

So, this is really unmissable for those interested in the history and aesthetics of film, and certainly not something I’d ever heard of before. If A Woman Kills wasn’t enough, you also get a superb documentary, and Tristesse des anthropophages and Une saison chez les hommes - genuinely all things I’m excited to watch again and if anything, the material is almost overwhelming. Very recommended indeed.