A Very Curious Girl

Nelly Kaplan's 1969 debut feature is a revenge story set in the French countryside and one of the most uncomfortable comedies of its era. Marie, played by Bernadette Lafont, is an outcast the village both shuns and exploits; she frees herself by turning her body into an economic instrument, and then turns that same instrument on the men who wronged her. Kaplan refuses to make this a victim narrative. Marie does not grieve, does not forgive, and wins. The film provoked censorship arguments in France and was rediscovered decades later within feminist film history. The visual nerve Kaplan picked up working alongside Abel Gance shows in the almost fairy-tale framing of the village scenes. Lafont's performance carries the whole thing: mocking, tireless, keeping accounts. Who it's for: viewers curious about the women directors adjacent to the French New Wave, and anyone who enjoys morally uneasy revenge comedy. Who it's not for: those who will struggle with scenes of sexual exploitation and rural male violence shown head-on, or who need to like the protagonist.