A bit mislabeled–the French title is Une affaire de femmes, which translates better as “Women’s Business”–Claude Chabrol’s accomplished and generally uncharacteristic period film (set in World War II occupied France), loosely adapted from a nonfiction book by lawyer Francis Szpiner, gives a plausible and wholly unsentimental account of a housewife and mother (Isabelle Huppert at her finest) who becomes an abortionist and winds up being sent to the guillotine for it. Married to a wounded French soldier (Francois Cluzet) who is initially off in a POW camp, she doesn’t want to sleep with him after his return, and soon becomes the family breadwinner–a tough little cookie who’s also helping other women out. Chabrol’s mise en scene and his handling of the period and performances are masterful (1988). A Chicago premiere. (Music Box, Friday through Thursday, February 16 through 22)
