Le Journal d'une femme en blanc (1965)
Directed by Claude Autant-Lara

Film Review

By the time he made La Jument verte (1959), Claude Autant-Lara's best period as a film director was behind him.  1960 to 1963 was his black period, consisting mainly of lacklustre commissions, and it was not until his participation in the anthology film Humour noir (1965) that he was able to relaunch his career.  Then came Le Journal d'une femme en blanc, adapted from André Soubiran's best-selling novel by Autant-Lara's faithful screenwriter Jean Aurenche.  Released on 28th April 1965, this was the director's 23rd film and follows a young nurse in the maternity department of a hospital who is herself confronted with the painful problem of birth control.

At the time the film was made birth control was a taboo subject and abortion remained illegal in France until the Veil Law was passed in 1975 (during the Nazi Occupation, those found guilty of practicing abortion were guillotined).  Given its controversial subject matter, you would expect Autant-Lara, one of French cinema's great agents provocateurs, to use this as an excuse for yet another anti-bourgeois tirade.  In fact, he doesn't do this and instead delivers a compassionate character-centric melodrama which reveals a more humane side to the director than we might expect.

Le Journal d'une femme en blanc was highly topical for its time (the sexual revolution was well under way and women's rights had come to the fore with a vengeance), although by today's standards it appears somewhat old-fashioned.  Technically, the film has as much to commend it as Autant-Lara's previous great films of the 40s and 50s,  Michel Kelber's expressive photography and Michel Magne's lyrical score breathing poetry into the sterile whiteness of the hospital scenes.

Autant-Lara's choice of casting for the film is atypical and perhaps quite daring.  Apart from the lead role, sensitively portrayed by the highly accomplished screen and stage actress Marie-José Nat, all of the characters are played by little known actors, something that adds to the realism of the piece.  Claude Gensac (later famous for playing Louis de Funès' long-suffering wife Josépha in the Gendarme series of films) is the most familiar face in a supporting cast which also includes Jean Valmont, Paloma Matta, Germaine Delbat and Cécile Vassort.

In what was something of a boom year for French cinema, Le Journal d'une femme en blanc performed well at the box office, attracting an audience of 2.3 million in France.  The film's success led Autant-Lara to make a sequel, Une femme en blanc se révolte (1966), although this lacked the charm and impact of the original.  Harangued by the critics, notably the young 'grave-diggers' on the Cahiers du cinéma, Autant-Lara continued his decline, which was aggravated by his increasingly rightwing political views.  He ended his career a bitter and disillusioned man, and his reputation would be tainted for many decades.  Le Journal d'une femme en blanc may not be Autant-Lara's greatest film but it is surely one of his most moving and sincere, although sadly, like much of his work, it is almost completely overlooked today.

Film Synopsis

Claude Sauvage is a maternity nurse at a large Parisian hospital who recounts her daily experiences in her diary.  She has to deal not only with pregnant young woman from unstable backgrounds but also older woman who already have too many children.  One day, Claude finds that she herself is pregnant, by Pascal, one of her doctor colleagues.  One of Claude's patients is Mariette Hugon, a nice young girl who is in a steady relationship with her boyfriend.  With money hard to come by, Mariette is keen to have an abortion, but Claude is insistent that she should proceed with the birth, even offering her help to bring up the child.  Claude does not realise that Mariette is desperate and quite prepared to do something foolish...