Overview: On the cusp of marriage, Liana becomes convinced she shouldn’t live a life in service of a man. Instead, she leaves for Amalfi, where she embarks on an affair. From there she makes for Paris, but each new adventure is compromised by some kind of emotional constraint, culminating in a final act of tragedy.

Vittorio Cottafavi’s emotionally complex story exhibits the melodramatic finesse of Douglas Sirk with a style reminiscent of Max Ophuls. A remarkably modern exploration of female autonomy, A Free Woman has been newly restored by Radiance and is presented on home video for the first time outside of Italy.

Blu-ray Verdict: A Free Woman is a cerebral feminist film about a woman trying to find herself and her place in society after a divorce where the father is about to gain custody of their only son. The film represents a cinema of ideas (my favorite sequence is one tracking a series of paintings and the position of women in them), with things to say that apply even today, and, it is suggested, many generations to come.

What it lacks is any sort of narrative drive: in the later sections there is a trip to Italy that doesn’t really add much, except some Milan sightseeing. Future director Margarethe von Trotta, frequently displaying her thighs of steel, also gives a fine performance in the leading role. [G.D.]

Bonus Features:
2K restoration from the original negative by Radiance Films
Uncompressed mono audio
Archival interview with director Vittorio Cottafavi (1995)
Interview with Italian film expert Stephen Gundle (2026)
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
Booklet featuring new writing by critic Mariangela Sansone and archival writing by filmmaker Luc Moullet
Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Official Purchase Link

www.radiancefilms.co.uk