Une Histoire Simple (aka A Simple Story) (1978)

Approaching 40 and in a failing relationship, a woman (Romy Schneider) decides to terminate her pregnancy. The film follows her journey until the film ends when, still unmarried, she is pregnant again but this time, she decides to keep the child. Directed by Claude Sautet (LES CHOSES DE LA VIE), this Oscar nominated movie (best foreign language film) is aptly named. There is no plot to speak of, not really. The film follows the evolution of a middle aged woman who perhaps defines herself through her relationships with men. At the film's outset, she terminates a pregnancy because her relationship isn't working but by the film's end, she realizes she doesn't need a male (she lives with a female friend) and is capable of bringing up a child by herself with the help of her friend. That's a gross simplification, there's more to her journey's end than that (an affair with her ex-husband, a friend's suicide etc.) but these are incidents that collectively mature her as a woman. Schneider won the Cesar (the French Oscar) for her performance here and she's superb. I liked the minimalist Philippe Sarde underscore. With Bruno Cremer, Claude Brasseur, Roger Pigaut, Arlette Bonnard and Eva Darian.