La Vengeance d’une femme (1990) - film review

A young woman, Suzy, returns to Paris to attend the funeral of her lover, André.  By chance, she meets up with André’s wife, Cecile, and the two open their hearts to share each other’s grief.  As Suzy becomes dependent on Cecile’s support to counter her grief, Cecile plays a psychological game to try to get Suzy to admit responsibility for Andre’s suicide.  The vengeance of a woman can be a terrible thing...

A film that boasts a exceptional performances from Isabelle Huppert and Béatrice Dalle, La vengeance d’une femme looks at how an intense grief can inspire simultaneously tenderness and bitterness.  The ambiguity over which woman, Cecile or Suzy, is the villain of the piece is never clearly resolved, and we are left having sympathy in roughly equal measure for both women.

Another interesting aspect is the way in which the mutual dislike and jealousy between the two women seems to draw them closer together – to the point that they end up in bed together.  All that they have in common is their intense love for their dead partner - yet that is enough for them to develop a close – and dangerous – relationship.

© James Travers 2001

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