The Woman Who Dared

What is passion? At what point does it become all-consuming? Does it necessarily come at the expense of one’s personal life?" These are the questions raised in Le Ciel est à vous (The Woman Who Dared), Jean Grémillon’s fourteenth film, which explores, of course, a passion for aviation. This love of flying is shared by Thérèse (Madeleine Renaud) and Pierre Gauthier (Charles Vanel), modest garage mechanics in the fictional village of Villeneuve. At first glance, the picture is idyllic: the Gauthiers are a loving, hard-working couple, devoted to their children’s wellbeing. But this apparent balance is soon jeopardised by their aerial acrobatics. The more their passion grows, the more the couple lose touch with everyday life, spending ever more money and eating into their children’s inheritance. (…) But this film is ultimately about love, and Thérèse would not break all her records without her husband’s support. Is there a man behind every great woman? A rare and welcome reversal of roles, whilst the Villeneuve town council reminds us of the sad reality of the era: that old Pétainist France relegating women to the status of mere furnishings. An intolerable stance condemned by Grémillon, spokesperson for women and their wildest dreams. These dreams are also those of people of modest means, for whom the road ahead will be even longer, as they lack the financial means or the social conventions of the bourgeoisie. At Marseille aerodrome, the aviator Lucienne Ivry is celebrated by the committee whilst the Gauthiers watch them from behind a window, a scene that clearly illustrates this glass ceiling. And why shouldn’t the skies belong to them too?"" (Esther Brejon; Revus & Corrigés n° 12)