Une femme douce

A young woman jumps to her death from a balcony. Her bereaved husband Luc, a pawnbroker, has no idea why she did this. In a series of flashbacks their shared history is shown as well as the possible reasons for her suicide. We see how they first met in his pawnshop, how he fell in love with her and how he eventually managed to win her hand. But also how, once married to her, he started to act jealous and possessive and narcissistic, and how she tried to escape from that. One thing becomes abundantly clear: this was not a happy marriage.

Bresson based this film, his first in colour, on Dostoyevsky's short story A Gentle Creature, which he saw as a story about the inability of people to really communicate with each other. Dominique Sanda made her screen debut playing the leading role. Her performance deeply impressed her contemporaries and marked the beginning of a long and illustrious acting career.