Les stances à Sophie (1971)

Celine (Bernadette Lafont) is a free-spirited woman who marries a dull, middle manager named Philippe (Michel Duchaussoy) in this comedy drama. The union results in her being pegged as a household ornament for her husband by her husband's coworker. She makes friends with a woman who shows her how to juggle the couple's living expenses to get whatever material goods she desires. When the couple entertains the coworker and his wife, the drunken men suggests they swap wives. Celine strips the man and makes him look at himself in a mirror to prove he is not desirable. Celine turns to painting and writes papers on the inequity between genders as she asserts her independence and gradually frees herself from her husband's claustrophobic world.

This long lost cult classic of French New Wave cinema has finally been released for the first time on DVD. “Les Stances a Sophie” has been out of print for over 30 years and this is its first release ever outside of France. Filmed in Paris in 1970, this fully-subtitled film features killer music, groovy clothes and post-1968 revolutionary ideals.This super-rare film is now perhaps best known for its soundtrack from the legendary Art Ensemble of Chicago (who also feature in the film).