Isn't Life a Bitch?

La Chienne
Film poster
Directed by	Jean Renoir
Produced by	Pierre Braunberger Roger Richebé Charles David (production manager)
Written by	Jean Renoir
Based on	The novel by Georges de La Fouchardière and the play by André Mouëzy-Éon
Starring	Michel Simon Janie Marèse Georges Flamant Roger Gaillard[]
Cinematography	Theodor Sparkuhl
Edited by	Marguerite Renoir
Production company	Les Etablissement Braunberger-Richebé
Distributed by	Gaumont
Release date	November 19, 1931
Running time	96 minutes
Country	France
Language	French

La Chienne (The Bitch) is a 1931 French film by director Jean Renoir. It is the second sound film by the director and the twelfth film of his career. The literal English translation of the film's title is "The Bitch", although the movie was never released under this title. It is often referred to in English as Isn't Life a Bitch? The film was remade by Fritz Lang in the United States as Scarlet Street (1945).

La Chienne was released by The Criterion Collection on both Blu-ray and DVD, newly restored in 4K, on June 14, 2016.

Maurice Legrand (Michel Simon), a meek cashier and aspirant painter, is miserably married to Adèle, an abusive woman who mistreats him. After a celebration in the company where he works, Maurice stumbles upon a man called André "Dédé" Jauguin (Georges Flamant) hitting a young woman called Lucienne "Lulu" Pelletier (Janie Marèse) on the street. Maurice protects Lulu and brings her home. Lulu, who is a prostitute, tells the naive Maurice that Dêdé is her brother, but Dêdé is actually her pimp. Maurice rents an apartment for Lulu and she becomes his mistress. Soon he brings his paintings to the apartment, since his wife Adèle intends to throw them away. But Dêdé sells the paintings to an art dealer for a large amount, telling the dealer that Lulu had painted them using the alias Claire Bloom. When Maurice stumbles upon Adèle's former husband who was supposedly killed in the war, he plots a scheme to get rid of Adèle. He succeeds in his intent, only to discover Lulu and Dêdé in bed during the night. Shocked, he leaves, but returns in the morning to talk to Lulu. She confesses that she loves Dêdé and humiliates Maurice, telling that the only reason she stayed with him was his money. Maurice kills Lulu and leaves the apartment with no witness. Dêdé arrives moments later and discovers that Lulu has been murdered. Dêdé is blamed for Lulu's murder due to his reputation, while Maurice goes on to lose his status in society and becomes a homeless vagrant.

In the film Michel Simon falls in love with Janie Marèse, and he did off-screen as well, while Marèse fell for Georges Flamant, who plays the pimp. Renoir and producer Pierre Braunberger had encouraged the relationship between Flamant and Marèse in order to get the fullest conviction into their performances (La Chienne was Flamant's first acting experience). After the film had been completed Flamant, who could barely drive, took Marèse for a drive, crashed the car and she was killed. At the funeral Michel Simon fainted and had to be supported as he walked past the grave. He threatened Renoir with a gun, saying that the death of Marèse was all his fault. "Kill me if you like", responded Renoir, "but I have made the film".