For a Woman

I will never be able to understand it or tolerate it or forgive it. Not that it's for me to forgive, but I could never forgive anyone who supported and even assisted Communism. Sure, they were idealistic fools, but they refused to listen to reason. As did Michel when Jean tried to tell him.

In other respects, it's not the story of the parents told by the daughter as she would've had no way of knowing that much about them. It's just a narrative gimmick. I choose to look at it as another story about the aftermath of the Holocaust. Including marriage to a completely unknown individual in order to live. I have heard of those before and seen at least two other movies about it, one of which was French as well. The narrative and the dialogues spend a lot of time on Michel's past and his present affiliations and Jean's secret activities and not that much on Michel and Lena's relationship. To be honest Michel is not the most captivating of men, quite the opposite, he is patronizing and sexist, like most men of his generation probably. He does love Lena to the best of his abilities. And he was somewhat tolerant for that age. He never lays his hands on her, which is a small wonder. But I don't think Lena got over the way their relationship started. Which is why she jumps headfirst into a flimsy love affair with Jean. There isn't much there either. It's just one of those passionate affairs after a few longing looks. The French do them well and often, but I always have a hard time rooting for them as they seem quite empty and bound to be short-lived.

So it's the trauma of WWII and how it warped these people that I choose to focus on here.