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The Female (1959 film)

La Femme et le Pantin / Femmina
La femme et le pantin.jpg
Directed by Julien Duvivier
Produced by Christine Gouze-Rénal
Fred Surin
Written by Julien Duvivier
Albert Valentin
Jean Aurenche
Screenplay
Marcel Achard
Dialogues
Based on La Femme et le pantin
by Pierre Louÿs
Starring Brigitte Bardot
Music by Jean Wiener
José Rocca
Cinematography Roger Hubert
Edited by Jacqueline Sadoul
Release date
  • February 13, 1959 (1959-02-13) (France)
  • March 4, 1959 (1959-03-04) (Italy)
Running time
100 minutes
Country France
Italy
Language French
Box office 2,453,892 admissions (France)

The Female (French: La Femme et le Pantin, Italian: Femmina) is a 1959 French-Italian drama film directed by Julien Duvivier. It is the third adaptation of the novel La Femme et le pantin by Pierre Louÿs.

Mateo Diaz is a wealthy gentleman who loves and respects his wife but doesn't find her attractive any longer because she is paralysed. He already has a certain reputation among women. Accordingly he doesn't hesitate to get close to Eva Marchand as soon as he has realised her beauty. But to his surprise she can't be bothered to show any appreciation for his advances. He begins trying to explain and justify his way of life and his interest in her. The more he tries, the harder she makes it on him. Eventually he is so humiliated that even his walk shows he is a broken man and that is the end of story.

Brigitte Bardot writes in her autobiography that the crew used to call the director "Dudu" but despite that, their rapport wasn't always perfect during the making of this film. She also stresses how the shooting in Sevilla during the Seville Fair became a hardship because of the heat.


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