Story of Women (1988)
Directed by Claude Chabrol
Genres - Drama, War |
Sub-Genres - Docudrama, War Drama, Crime Drama |
Release Date - Oct 13, 1989 (USA) |
Run Time - 108 min. |
Countries - France |
MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
The women in this story are the customers of amateur abortionist Isabelle Huppert. The time is 1941, and the place is a Nazi-occupied French town. Struggling to survive, Huppert turns to illegally terminating unwanted pregnancies for a hefty fee. As her income increases, Huppert moves her family from their grimy surroundings to a posh apartment, sharing her digs with her new friend, prostitute Marie Trintignant. Completely seduced by her affluent lifestyle, Huppert ignores her shell-shocked husband Francois Cluzet, preferring to dally with Nazi collaborator Nils Tavernier. Things take a disastrous turn after one of Huppert's "customers" dies and her disgruntled husband turns her over to the authorities. Story of Women was inspired by the real-life tale of Marie-Louise Girard, who in 1943 was executed by the Vichy Government, who'd declared abortion as a Crime Against the State because it diminished the number of potential soldiers.
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Keywords
abortion, execution, extramarital-affair, meaning-of-life