8 February 2023

Review: A Woman Kills

Blu-ray: A Woman Kills (1968)

1960’s Paris and a series of prostitute murders are becoming big news until Hélène Picard (also a prostitute) is found guilty of the crimes and executed.

However, the murders continue, and when executioner Louis Guilbeau (Claude Merlin) begins a relationship with the investigating officer, Solange (Solange Pradel), she soon uncovers far more than she ever thought possible.

This new wave influenced, gritty black and white crime story is intrinsically French in both its style and setting, accompanied by an off-key and often grating jazz score (disclaimer: I’m not a big lover of jazz).

The frenetic camerawork and jump cut editing can often lead the viewer to be as confused as Solange is at times in the movie, while the moments of solitude and reflection (usually involving having a cigarette) can sometimes be overplayed and slow the narrative to almost a halt. Though the narrative itself can be fragmented at times, leaving everything to be played out in in a series of barely connected vignettes.

I was never bored by A Woman Kills, and I was certainly invested into if everything culminated in a satisfying way, but I do admit that this is most definitely a movie that doesn’t have big mainstream appeal.

Released on Blu-ray for the first time anywhere, it is important that all movies are preserved and available in the best way possible, so kudos again to Radiance Films for making this available for cinephiles everywhere.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

2K restoration of the film from the original 16mm elements
Original uncompressed mono PCM audio
Audio commentary by critics Kat Ellinger and Virginie Sélavy
Introduction by Virginie Sélavy
On the Margin: The Cursed Films of Jean-Denis Bonan (Francis Lecomte, 2015/2022, 37 mins) – a newly updated documentary programme featuring director Jean-Denis Bonan, cinematographer Gérard de Battista, editor Mireille Abramovici, musician Daniel Laloux, and actress Jackie Raynal
Short films by Jean-Denis Bonan: The Short Life of Monsieur Meucieu (1962, 13 mins); A Crime of Love (1965, 7 mins, rushes of an incomplete film, narrated by Bonan); Sadness of the Anthropophagi (1966, 24 mins); Crazy Mathieu (1967, 17 mins); A Season with Mankind (1967, 19 mins)
Trailer
Newly translated English subtitles
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by maarko phntm
Limited edition 52-page booklet featuring new writing on the film by author and scholar Catherine Wheatley, writer and musician Richard Thomas on the short films, Cerise Howard on gender identity tropes in A Woman Kills and the horror film, an interview with Francis Lecomte, the French distributor who rescued the film, and newly translated archival reviews and film credits
Limited edition of 2000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings