The Female (1959 film)


The Female, released in the United Kingdom as A Woman Like Satan, 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.

Plot

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.

Cast

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.