In the Shadow of Women

Philippe Garrel's In the Shadow of Women takes a close look at infidelity. Stanislas Merhar and Clotilde Courau are Pierre and Manon, a Parisian married couple working in fragile harmony on Pierre’s documentary film projects, the latest of which is a portrait of a resistance fighter (Jean Pommier). When Pierre takes a lover (Lena Paugam), he feels entitled to do so, and he treats both wife and mistress with disengagement bordering on disdain; when Manon catches Pierre in the act, her immediate response is to find common ground with her husband.