# Story of Women
**Story of Women** (French: *Une affaire de femmes*) is a 1988 French drama directed by Claude Chabrol, starring [Isabelle Huppert](https://www.edgepedia.org/isabelle-huppert) as Marie Latour, a working-class mother in Nazi-occupied France who becomes a clandestine abortionist and is ultimately executed under Vichy law[1](https://adrc-asso.org/patrimoine/diffusion/films-et-cycles/une-affaire-de-femmes). The film is based on the book of the same name by the lawyer Francis Szpiner, which dramatized the real case of Marie-Louise Giraud, guillotined in 1943 for performing illegal abortions[2](https://asac.labiennale.org/attivita/cinema/8458) • [3](https://sightlines.media/film/41975/story-of-women-1988). Huppert won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 1988 [Venice Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/venice-film-festival) for the role[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096336/awards/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title / year | *Une affaire de femmes*, France, 1988[1](https://adrc-asso.org/patrimoine/diffusion/films-et-cycles/une-affaire-de-femmes) |
| Director and writers | Directed by Claude Chabrol; screenplay by Chabrol and Colo Tavernier, from Francis Szpiner's book[2](https://asac.labiennale.org/attivita/cinema/8458) |
| Lead cast | Isabelle Huppert (Marie Latour), François Cluzet (Paul), Marie Trintignant (Lulu), Nils Tavernier (Lucien)[5](https://cinegraph.org/movies/story-of-women-1988) |
| Historical basis | The case of Marie-Louise Giraud, guillotined on 30 July 1943 under Vichy legislation that made abortion a capital crime[6](https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/opendata/RAPPANR5L17B2244.html) |
| Principal award | Volpi Cup for Best Actress, Venice 1988, shared ex aequo with Shirley MacLaine for *Madame Sousatzka*[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096336/awards/) • [7](https://www.labiennale.org/en/history-venice-film-festival) |
| French release | 14 September 1988; CNC visa no. 67782 dated 27 September 1988[8](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=67782) |
| Restoration | Restored in 4K by Éclair Classics for MK2, with CNC support; re-released in cinemas 29 September 2021[1](https://adrc-asso.org/patrimoine/diffusion/films-et-cycles/une-affaire-de-femmes) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
During the Occupation, Marie Latour raises her two children in hardship while her husband Paul is a prisoner in Germany. She helps a neighbor end an unwanted pregnancy, and the practice grows: with husbands away as prisoners, love affairs, and liaisons with the occupier, demand is steady, and Marie's services become paid and then her livelihood[1](https://adrc-asso.org/patrimoine/diffusion/films-et-cycles/une-affaire-de-femmes). She rents a room to her prostitute friend Lulu as a further source of income and takes a younger lover, Lucien[5](https://cinegraph.org/movies/story-of-women-1988) • [9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-26-ca-915-story.html).
Paul returns from captivity embittered and weakened, a contrast to the material comfort Marie has built, and she dreams of another life[1](https://adrc-asso.org/patrimoine/diffusion/films-et-cycles/une-affaire-de-femmes). [Vichy France](https://www.edgepedia.org/vichy-france), the film's synopsis notes, does not tolerate individual happiness unfolding outside official morality; in June 1943 Marie the abortionist is sentenced to death by criminal court[1](https://adrc-asso.org/patrimoine/diffusion/films-et-cycles/une-affaire-de-femmes) • [10](https://mk2films.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/11/mk2-films-international.pdf).
## Production
Chabrol wrote the screenplay with Colo Tavernier, his then wife, adapting Szpiner's 1986 book[2](https://asac.labiennale.org/attivita/cinema/8458) • [11](https://www.grandacademicportal.education/assets/images/documents/20180417220021.pdf). Jean Rabier was the cinematographer, Matthieu Chabrol composed the score, and the production companies were La Sept, Les Films du Camélia, MK2 Productions, and Molecule S.A. / Films A2[2](https://asac.labiennale.org/attivita/cinema/8458). Huppert said the shoot took eight weeks and that Chabrol worked so fast his footage hardly needed editing; she had concerns about playing an abortionist, and Chabrol told her the character could just as easily have been a plumber[12](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-03-ca-313-story.html).
Chabrol described his visual approach in a remark quoted by the film's distributor: "Côté mise en scène, je me suis amusé à faire un film de 1943 et non un film sur 1943," adding that filmmakers of the period had not yet seen *Citizen Kane* and did not know deep focus, which he played on[1](https://adrc-asso.org/patrimoine/diffusion/films-et-cycles/une-affaire-de-femmes).
## Historical basis and the Vichy context
The film's source case sits inside a specific legal history. Abortion had been criminalized in France at least since an edict of 1556, and under article 317 of the penal code it was a crime judged by a court of assizes[13](https://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/evenements/2015/anniversaire-loi-veil/la-marche-vers-la-loi/la-repression). Under Vichy, repression intensified: the law of 15 February 1942 made abortion a crime against the security of the state, subject to special courts and punishable by death[13](https://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/evenements/2015/anniversaire-loi-veil/la-marche-vers-la-loi/la-repression) • [14](https://tesi.luiss.it/30222/1/088992_DUALE_ESTHER.pdf). A law of 14 September 1941 had already barred mitigating circumstances and suspended sentences in abortion cases[15](https://histoire-sociale.cnrs.fr/la-repression-de-lavortement-1939-1945/).
Marie-Louise Giraud was guillotined on 30 July 1943 on the basis of this Vichy legislation, which treated abortion as a crime against the state punishable by death[6](https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/opendata/RAPPANR5L17B2244.html). One retrospective account states she had performed 27 illegal abortions in the Cherbourg region[16](https://www.lemagducine.fr/retrospectives/une-affaire-de-femmes-claude-chabrol-critique-retrospective-10039268/); sources describe her as one of the last women guillotined in France[3](https://sightlines.media/film/41975/story-of-women-1988). The natalist context mattered: Vichy increased penalties against abortion, making it a capital offense and a crime against the [French people](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-people), and made adultery by the wives of prisoners of war a crime[17](https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/61493/2/02whole.pdf).
## Reception and awards
At the 45th Venice International Film Festival in 1988, Huppert won the Volpi Cup for Best Female Interpretation, ex aequo with [Shirley MacLaine](https://www.edgepedia.org/shirley-maclaine) for *Madame Sousatzka*, and Chabrol received a Filmcritica "Bastone Bianco" Special Mention while being nominated for the [Golden Lion](https://www.edgepedia.org/golden-lion)[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096336/awards/) • [7](https://www.labiennale.org/en/history-venice-film-festival) • [2](https://asac.labiennale.org/attivita/cinema/8458). *Le Monde*'s review from the festival called it "un grand film" and praised Huppert's identification with the character[18](https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1988/09/04/une-affaire-de-femmes-au-festival-de-venise-un-grand-chabrol_4088157_1819218.html).
In the 1989 to 1990 awards season the film was named Best Foreign Language Film by the New York Film Critics Circle, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (tied with *[Distant Voices, Still Lives](https://www.edgepedia.org/distant-voices-still-lives)*), the [National Board of Review](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-board-of-review), and the Boston Society of Film Critics, and it was nominated for the 1990 Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096336/awards/). At the 1989 [César Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/cesar-awards) it received three nominations: Best Actress (Huppert), Best Supporting Actress (Trintignant), and Best Director (Chabrol)[19](https://www.academie-cinema.org/films/une-affaire-de-femmes/-28209/). On Rotten Tomatoes it holds an 85% Tomatometer from 13 reviews[20](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/story_of_women).
Critics emphasized the film's refusal to judge. Roger Ebert called it "a morality play without a conclusion" in which Chabrol does not make it easy for the audience to assign virtue or blame[21](https://mubi.com/en/films/story-of-women/critics-reviews). The *Washington Post*'s Desson Howe wrote that it is "an unflinching treatment of a volatile issue" that refuses to simplify[22](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/11/03/ever-rending-story-of-women/c8b3e5fd-7b75-4cbf-a764-8fe545938129/), and the *Los Angeles Times* described it as the culmination of Chabrol's three-decade obsession with bourgeois hypocrisy[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-26-ca-915-story.html).
The film's subject also drew hostility in France. According to a *Le Monde* report of 1 November 1988, a bomb had gone off on 8 October at a [Montparnasse](https://www.edgepedia.org/montparnasse) cinema during a screening of *Une affaire de femmes*, causing the death of a spectator with a heart condition; the film had been targeted by integrist groups[23](https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1988/11/01/l-association-integriste-centre-charlier-se-defend-d-etre-a-l-origine-de-l-attentat_4121990_1819218.html).
## Later circulation
The film entered the canonical list *[1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die](https://www.edgepedia.org/1001-movies-you-must-see-before-you-die)*[5](https://cinegraph.org/movies/story-of-women-1988). A 4K restoration by the laboratory Éclair Classics for MK2, made with CNC support, returned it to French cinemas on 29 September 2021[1](https://adrc-asso.org/patrimoine/diffusion/films-et-cycles/une-affaire-de-femmes), and it streams on the Criterion Channel in the United States[24](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/story-of-women). Huppert, discussing her seven or eight films with Chabrol in later interviews, recalled that he never gave her direction on set and left her completely free[25](https://mubi.com/de/notebook/posts/he-would-leave-me-totally-free-isabelle-huppert-on-claude-chabrol).
## References
1. [Une Affaire de femmes, ADRC](https://adrc-asso.org/patrimoine/diffusion/films-et-cycles/une-affaire-de-femmes)
2. [Scheda film: Une affaire de femmes, ASAC La Biennale di Venezia](https://asac.labiennale.org/attivita/cinema/8458)
3. [Story of Women (1988), Sightlines](https://sightlines.media/film/41975/story-of-women-1988)
4. [Story of Women (1988) – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096336/awards/)
5. [Story of Women, Cinegraph](https://cinegraph.org/movies/story-of-women-1988)
6. [Rapport Assemblée nationale RAPPANR5L17B2244 on the history of abortion penalization in France](https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/opendata/RAPPANR5L17B2244.html)
7. [History of the Venice Film Festival, La Biennale](https://www.labiennale.org/en/history-venice-film-festival)
8. [Visas et Classification, CNC – Une affaire de femmes, visa 67782](https://www.cnc.fr/professionnels/visas-et-classification?visa=67782)
9. [Kevin Thomas, "'Women': Study of Corruption, Hypocrisy," Los Angeles Times, 26 October 1989](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-26-ca-915-story.html)
10. [The Claude Chabrol Collection, MK2 Films](https://mk2films.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/11/mk2-films-international.pdf)
11. [Abortion, France, death penalty, history, woman's body, control (UGC journal article)](https://www.grandacademicportal.education/assets/images/documents/20180417220021.pdf)
12. ["France's Two Isabelles: Acting," Los Angeles Times, 3 January 1990](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-03-ca-313-story.html)
13. [La répression, Assemblée nationale (anniversaire de la loi Veil)](https://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/evenements/2015/anniversaire-loi-veil/la-marche-vers-la-loi/la-repression)
14. [Esther Duale, Status of women in Italy, France and Somalia (LUISS thesis)](https://tesi.luiss.it/30222/1/088992_DUALE_ESTHER.pdf)
15. [La répression de l'avortement, 1939-1945, Centre d'histoire sociale des mondes contemporains (CNRS)](https://histoire-sociale.cnrs.fr/la-repression-de-lavortement-1939-1945/)
16. [Une affaire de femmes, de Claude Chabrol, LeMagduCiné](https://www.lemagducine.fr/retrospectives/une-affaire-de-femmes-claude-chabrol-critique-retrospective-10039268/)
17. [National Regeneration in Vichy France, University of Adelaide thesis](https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/61493/2/02whole.pdf)
18. ["Une affaire de femmes, au Festival de Venise: Un grand Chabrol," Le Monde, 4 September 1988](https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1988/09/04/une-affaire-de-femmes-au-festival-de-venise-un-grand-chabrol_4088157_1819218.html)
19. [Une affaire de femmes, Académie des César](https://www.academie-cinema.org/films/une-affaire-de-femmes/-28209/)
20. [Story of Women, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/story_of_women)
21. [Story of Women critic reviews, MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/films/story-of-women/critics-reviews)
22. [Desson Howe, "Ever-Rending 'Story of Women,'" The Washington Post, 3 November 1989](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/11/03/ever-rending-story-of-women/c8b3e5fd-7b75-4cbf-a764-8fe545938129/)
23. [Le Monde archives, 1 November 1988, on the attack against a cinema screening Une affaire de femmes](https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1988/11/01/l-association-integriste-centre-charlier-se-defend-d-etre-a-l-origine-de-l-attentat_4121990_1819218.html)
24. [Story of Women streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/story-of-women)
25. ["He Would Leave Me Totally Free": Isabelle Huppert on Claude Chabrol, MUBI Notebook](https://mubi.com/de/notebook/posts/he-would-leave-me-totally-free-isabelle-huppert-on-claude-chabrol)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 1980s › Released 1986 to 1989*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license