THE STORY – Gabrielle is a middle-aged childless surgeon whose life is consumed by her work and responsibilities. When a writer observes her at work for a novel, her life begins to change.
THE CAST – Léa Drucker, Mélanie Thierry, Charles Berling, Laurent Capelluto & Marie-Christine Barrault
THE TEAM – Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet (Director/Writer) & Fanny Burdino (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 98 Minutes
Léa Drucker staring into the eyes of a former lover, quietly longing for a relationship she thought would last forever, is enough reason to see Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s pragmatic character study, “A Woman’s Life.” Drucker plays Gabrielle, an accomplished career woman whose bottled-up personality is revealed through the life she has built for herself. She works as a surgeon and department head at a hospital that faces nursing and supply shortages. She craves more alone time with her husband (Charles Berling), whose adult children are still hanging around. Her mother is suffering from Alzheimer’s and will soon be moved into a nursing home. With very little time for herself, Gabrielle has a passionate romance with a writer named Frida (Mélanie Thierry), whose lifestyle sounds enticing simply because it seems so much calmer in comparison. Would Gabrielle disrupt her comfort and security to pursue intense love? Drucker’s phenomenal performance slowly builds towards addressing this question, and the answer is bittersweet.
“A Woman’s Life” may not offer the most creative-sounding title, but its broadness speaks to a concept that women are bombarded with on a daily basis: having it all. From a young age, women are often taught to be accommodating and to take up less space, so that the needs of marriage and children take priority. As such, many ultimately talk themselves out of the lives they do want. Then there is the exhausting work-life balance, and the assumption that women in the workplace must have all sacrificed wanting to start a family. Drucker has an impeccable monologue in which she schools a male colleague on the expectation that because she is so dedicated to her career, she must have given up on having children of her own. As Gabrielle brilliantly puts it, “We don’t all need to reproduce to be alive.”
This scene serves as a standout element to peel back the layers of Gabrielle’s internal conflict. We learn that she had to take care of her sister from a young age, and as a result, has grown tired of having dependents. Gabrielle’s family history provides some insightful context for why she chose to devote much of her energy to a professional life. The monologue also speaks to Drucker’s wonderfully layered performance. Whether in a confrontational setting such as the hospital monologue, or through an intense glance (of which there are many), she consistently gives us several little revelatory moments to chew on. Most crucially, Drucker grounds the film’s breezy tone. Her gravitas adds plenty of dimension to scenes that might otherwise feel inconsequential or too slight. She also has the opportunity to explore a change in Gabrielle’s demeanor when Frida invites her on a trip to the gorgeous Italian Alps. In this chapter, titled “Encore,” Drucker reveals a new side of Gabrielle that mirrors the slower-paced lifestyle Frida leads. This trip arrives as a refreshing change of pace for the character, and for a narrative that moves to the beat of her often fast-paced scenarios.
Bourgeois-Tacquet presents the character’s life in several chapter headings, with “I Want It All” serving as a fitting start on a thematic level. While a few chapters do work to offer a more seamless transition between scenes, the majority are unnecessary divisions that interrupt the narrative flow and make the film feel longer than its runtime. Although chapter five has a particularly amusing headline (“No”), it’s mainly a sequence of sparks flying between Gabrielle and Frida as they watch a performance art piece. One of the most impressive elements is how Drucker and Thierry manage to embody such a deep connection, not to mention brilliant chemistry, in a rather short period of time. It’s an integral part of the film, as their relationship bookends it. Drucker and Thierry also share a riveting dinner scene set in Torino, Italy. From this moment alone, it’s easy to believe why Gabrielle fell in love with Frida so intensely. Thierry brings a je ne sais quoi energy about her, which makes for a magnetic screen presence.
With a performer as accomplished as Léa Drucker leading the way, “A Woman’s Life” leaves behind a glowing final thought, despite the film’s fairly rushed pacing and excessively unnecessary chapters for Gabrielle’s story. One cannot help but feel swept away by Drucker’s towering ability to command the direction of a scene, share terrific chemistry with her fellow actors, and build on her character’s conflict through a dynamic collection of everyday interactions. Similar to Rose Byrne’s tour de force in Mary Bronstein’s “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” albeit far more easygoing in tone, Drucker quickly becomes her film’s key element from the very beginning, and Bourgeois-Tacquet too recognizes the power of a good closeup. Her character’s conflict might not crescendo into the most memorable constructed scenes. However, with Drucker single-handedly carrying the film’s emotional core on her shoulders, any minor quibbles instantly melt into afterthoughts, while her exquisite work remains at the forefront.
