Jeanne Jouvert, a crime writer, has won the Quai des Orfèvres prize. Her publisher devises a clever publicity ploy that results in her husband, Alfred, head of the anti-gang squad, being honored in her place. The policeman finds himself quite comfortable as a best-selling author and takes advantage of the situation. Tired of having been submissive for too long, Jeanne plans her revenge. She asks for help from her friend Anne Beaufort, herself disappointed by her husband, who pretends to help Third World countries by selling them weapons. The two of them will prove what they are capable of by organizing a hold-up of the central post office in Paris.
Acting
Annie Girardot's simmering, volcanic restraint
Writing
Meta-commentary on men taking credit for women's work
Director
Pierre Lary
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Quai des Orfèvres prize is real, named after the Paris police headquarters—making Alfred's usurpation literally a cop stealing from a crime writer.
Released during France's post-1968 feminist wave, the film channels widespread frustration with men occupying spaces—literary, professional, domestic—women had fought to enter.
FR
