Gilles' Wife

Set in the 1930s, Gilles’ Wife is a film version of the novel of the same name by Madeleine Bourdouxhe. “I started reading the book, but stopped after the first page. But a friend said I should stick with it, so I read the second page. Then I just couldn’t stop,” the director says.

Gilles and Elisa look like a happy couple — she is a model mother and housewife: she cooks, washes, cleans, and patiently waits for her husband to come home from his shift. He works hard to support the family, especially after Elisa finds herself once again expecting a blessed event. Her sister Victorine just got a job in the city and stops by often to help out with the kids…. Once in a while Elisa has the feeling that things aren’t quite right with her husband, but she always ignores it — pregnant women are always getting funny ideas. Thus the discovery of the truth is all the more painful. Elisa’s struggle to save everything she loves is desperate, silent, and courageous. –Karlovy Vary