The women in this story are the customers of amateur abortionist
Isabelle Huppert. The time is 1941, and the place is a Nazi-occupied French town. Struggling to survive,
Huppert turns to illegally terminating unwanted pregnancies for a hefty fee. As her income increases,
Huppert moves her family from their grimy surroundings to a posh apartment, sharing her digs with her new friend, prostitute
Marie Trintignant. Completely seduced by her affluent lifestyle,
Huppert ignores her shell-shocked husband
Francois Cluzet, preferring to dally with Nazi collaborator
Nils Tavernier. Things take a disastrous turn after one of
Huppert's "customers" dies and her disgruntled husband turns her over to the authorities.
Story of Women
was inspired by the real-life tale of Marie-Louise Girard, who in 1943
was executed by the Vichy Government, who'd declared abortion as a Crime
Against the State because it diminished the number of potential
soldiers.
