This is a short film but very poignant in its storytelling and very French. And what I mean by that is French as a counterpoint to American cinema. It explored more the surreal and poetic side of filmmaking versus the structural and straight-forward storytelling of American movies. This is arguably part of the European heritage of looking at art as poetry, writing, creative expression on a romantic, abstract, metaphorical level whereas the American Hollywood machine that developed as a counterpoint was all about clarity of story and production value displaying these precise, realistic elements as part of a projection of power to be able to do so.
This film is very non-traditional in the telling of its story with lots of metaphorical imagery and double exposure aiding that abstract nature. It creates a claustrophobic sensation through use of tight close ups, often shot against black backgrounds with lots of backlight separating the subject from the backdrop.
These intimate yet aggressive close-ups helped translate a sense of inner turmoil in Madame Beudet in her loveless marriage and aided the build-up of tension that eventually boils over into the climactic threat of her killing herself.
That being said, the movie is not all that internal in nature. The images are sharp and the events really progress quickly, especially the husband pretending to kill himself the first time. That shocked me in a profound way.
This movie really messes with lighting and camera angles to emphasize the sense of an alienating marriage. We are truly thrown into the position of the wife, feeling that life has nothing more to offer us anymore and that the only way out is by shooting our way out.