Anna is a psychologist undertaking research about famous suicidal women. She takes a specific interest in the case of Antonieta Rivas Mercado, who killed herself in 1931 in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris.
Acting
Adjani's possessed, luminous fragility—she's barely human.
Cinematography
Saura's sepia fever dreams bleeding into documentary reality.
Costume
Antonieta's actual wardrobe: revolutionary chic meets inevitable doom.
Director
Carlos Saura
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Antonieta Rivas Mercado was a feminist arts patron who shot herself at Notre-Dame's altar; her lover Manuel Rodriguez Lozano painted her corpse.
Saura made this after Franco's death, using Mexican history to explore how fascism erases women's stories—Adjani's Antonieta is literally unphotographable, slipping through every frame.
FR
MX
