On a trouvé une femme nue: A messy, charming relic

Is this worth your time?

Honestly, only if you’re into the kind of 1930s French cinema that feels like a stage play taped to a camera. It’s light, it’s silly, and it’s arguably a bit hollow. If you need a tight, fast-paced script, stay far away. But if you want to see how people handled 'scandalous' humor back then, you might get a kick out of it.

The whole thing kicks off with a discovery in the forest. You can tell they were trying to be provocative for the time, but watching it now, it just feels quaint. Very quaint.

I found myself staring at the background extras more than the leads. There’s this one guy in a hat near the 20-minute mark who looks like he’s trying his hardest not to laugh during a serious line delivery. It’s those little accidents that make movies like this watchable.

The vibe

It’s not as sharp as 50 Million Frenchmen, which has that breezy, musical energy I usually crave. Here, the dialogue just... sits there. Sometimes it hits, sometimes it misses by a mile.

The pacing is all over the place, too. One minute we are in a frantic argument, and the next, everyone is just standing around a room talking about nothing. It’s not necessarily bad, but it’s definitely not professional by modern standards. It feels lived-in, I guess?

• The outfits are surprisingly crisp for a film this dusty.
• Saturnin Fabre is clearly having the time of his life, even when he has nothing to do.
• The lighting in the forest scene makes everyone look like they’re glowing from the knees down.

It reminds me a bit of the chaos in Pardon Us, just without the slapstick violence. It’s more about the awkwardness of people pretending to be respectable. 🙄

I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend this for a movie night. But if you’re digging through the archives and want something that doesn’t take itself seriously? Sure. Why not. It’s a weird little artifact that probably should have stayed buried, but I’m glad it didn’t, if only for that one scene where the furniture placement makes zero sense.

It’s the kind of movie that makes you realize movies weren't always 'great.' Sometimes they were just people in rooms, talking, hoping the audience wouldn't notice the plot holes. I definitely noticed. Still, it’s charming in a way that feels completely unintentional.