Attention! Une femme peut en cacher une autre (1983)
Directed by Georges Lautner

Film Review

This low-key romantic drama is not the kind of film you would naturally associate with director Georges Lautner, who is far better known for his hard-edged policiers and comedy-thrillers such as Le Pacha (1968) and Les Tontons flingueurs (1963). Attention! Une femme peut en cacher une autre is certainly far from being Lautner's finest hour, and it is quite obvious that the film is intended primarily as a vehicle for actress Miou-Miou, with Roger Hanin and Eddy Mitchell lazily thrown in to give the film a boost at the box office (how else can we account for the fact that it attracted over a million spectators?).

In spite of the engaging performances, the film is horribly superficial, marred by a plot that feels a tad mechanical and an acute lack of character depth, to say nothing of some completely ill-judged humour. The film's main failing is that having laboriously set up an all too familiar premise - a woman leading a double life and setting up two households, each entirely ignorant of the other's existence - it fails to resolve it in a satisfactory manner. The ending is jaw-droppingly bad, a dreadful cop-out that makes you wish you hadn't bothered watching the film in the first place.

Film Synopsis

To her friends, Alice gives the appearance of being an ordinary, happily married career woman.  In truth, she is leading a bizarre double life.  She spends half of her time with her husband Philippe, an airline pilot, and her son in Paris.  When her husband is away from home, she hastens to a coastal town where she has a second family and another job.  Alice met Vincent shortly after walking out on Philippe more than a decade ago, and it was love at first sight.  Ten years and two children later, Alice finally meets up with Philippe again.  Realising that she still loves him, she decides to return to Philippe, but on a part time basis.  Philippe knows nothing about Vincent, and Vincent knows nothing about Philippe.  For how much longer can Alice persist with her incredible time-share life?