Picturesque recreation of Paris between the wars to a strong score by Ennio Morricone that explores the intersecting worlds of commerce, journalism, finance, politics and the law through the career of Emma Eckhert, a Jewish girl who starts in the family hat shop, rises to running her own fraudulent bank, begins influencing national affairs and ends up in jail. Based on the real Marthe Hanau, she is played by the always-watchable Romy Schneider, who ably shows Emma's personal life as well: arranged marriage followed by divorce, two little boys to raise, lesbian amours and final affair with a young married politician whose beautiful wife seems ambivalent.
While the story of Emma's public and private lives is interesting to see, casting a light on sectors of French society at the time, it could have been told in much less time with considerably fewer characters. The main justification for the film is therefore la Schneider. Among good supporting roles are Jean-Claude Brialy as her lawyer, Jean-Louis Trintignant as a rival banker and Marie-France Pisier as her lover's wife.
While the story of Emma's public and private lives is interesting to see, casting a light on sectors of French society at the time, it could have been told in much less time with considerably fewer characters. The main justification for the film is therefore la Schneider. Among good supporting roles are Jean-Claude Brialy as her lawyer, Jean-Louis Trintignant as a rival banker and Marie-France Pisier as her lover's wife.