In the 80's, the sisters Anne (Sylvie Testud) and Tania (Julie Ferrier) are looking at the belongings of their deceased mother in a box and find a ring and the photo of her uncle Jean wearing the ring with their mother and Tania inside. Anne is a filmmaker and decides to research the story behind the ring. After the World War II, the Soviet Jewish Michel (Benoît Magimel) and Léna (Mélanie Thierry), who met each other at the Riversaltes Camp and married each other in a loveless wedding to leave the camp, apply for French citizenship since Michel was raised in France and joined the French Foreign Legion in the past. They move to Lyon, where Léna delivers their daughter Tania and Michel joins the Communist Party. When they receive their Frech citizenship, Michel opens a tailor's workshop and befriends Maurice (Denis Podalydès), who is the leader of the party, and his unfaithful wife Madeleine (Clotilde Hesme), who cheats him with the young member of the party Paul (Marc Ruchmann). Out of the blue, his missing brother Jean (Nicolas Duvauchelle), who was considered dead, appears at Michel's home. He welcomes Jean but tells Léna that he is not sure whether the man is Jean since he does not see him since they were boys. Michel hires Jean to work at the workshop and lodges him at home, and Jean helps him to be well-succeeded in business with new ideas, and soon he buys a car and a refrigerator. When Jean's friend Sacha (Clément Sibony) appears at the tailor's workshop, Michel hires and lodges him too. However, they do not give explanation how they reach France and Michel suspects of them. But soon Léna feels attracted by Jean that does not wish to betray his brother.

"Pour une femme", a.k.a. "For a Woman" (2013) is a nice French romance by Diane Kurys slightly based on her story. The plot is well developed in three periods: after the war; in the 80's; and in 1998. The performances are top-notch and it is not clear whether Anne is Jean's or Michel's daughter. The long and complex story is disclosed in the right pace and is never boring. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Por Uma Mulher" ("For a Woman")

Moments into this I realized it was a "continuation" or Another View of the engrossing and amazing 1983 film Entre Nous, starring Miou-Miou and Isabelle Huppert. That film focuses on the relationship between Lena (the director's mother) and Madeleine. This film focuses on director Kurys' parents, Lena and Michele, and their rocky marriage. Madeleine appears, but is essentially a satellite. The scenes between the two lack the incredible spark and frisson of the earlier film. Clearly Kurys is fascinated by her parents dramatic meeting and how their relationship reflects their times. To truly appreciate these revelations, it's essential to see the classier earlier film.

This film is semi-autobiographical, based on the director's family of which we are reminded during the closing credits when pictures of the cast are replaced by black and white photographs that I assume to be the director's parents and close family.

This is a handsome period piece set mostly in the 1940's though it features some scenes in the late 80's and 1990 that coincide with the deaths of the parents. The film concerns French resident Jewish survivors of WW2 and concentration camps. We learn that Michel and Lena meet at such a camp; he was interred as both an enemy soldier and a Jew, she because she was Jewish. He saves her from certain death and as a consequence of this she agrees to marry him. In 1945 they have their first of two daughters, Tania, and Michel settles into life as a tailor in Lyons pioneering different cuts, styles and fabrics for men's suits. Michel has been helped into business by fellow Communist, Maurice, and the pair become friends as do their wives with Michel devoting his spare time to the Communist cause.

Into this idyll arrives Michel's brother, Jean, who was assumed to have perished fighting in WW2. His arrival heralds discoveries such as what became of their parents, Michel's troubled relationship with his father, the political activity of French and European Jews post-war hunting Nazis who are fleeing capture and trial and, most importantly, Lena's restlessness in her marriage to Michel.

Michel loves Lena with a devotion that he retains until death. Lena married Michel from gratitude and never quite feels the same passion although they enjoy a loving marriage. Lena and Jean are attracted to one another immediately and this attraction signifies the beginning of the end of her marriage to Michel although it will be a few more years before she leaves him.

The film is told from the perspective of Anne, the younger daughter, who we see at the start reminiscing and writing about her parents' story. The story is romantic and bittersweet and set as it is post-war amongst Jewish survivors, it has a certain epic quality, as though it stands for the truth of those times. Above all the film is very respectful and the closing lines capture the tone of the film well; these are them in English translation:

"We're given a family to begin with and create our own story where there's room or where there's light. We grow up as best we can between unspoken words, unanswered questions. And then one day we look at our parents as a man and as a woman we might have met and simply loved for what they were."

As a paean to parents the film works very well. Parents are likened to the perfume of the title 'pour une femme'; their scent lingers though their essence, when gone, remain ineffable. The perfume Michel buys Lena, a bottle of which is found by the sisters after his death, issues some of its fragrance though it is decades old, as was Michel and Lena's marriage.

Although it falls into sentimentality sometimes the film balances well the mixed feelings of the people and the times. I have reached an age where the loss of my second parent seems imminent and the film's tone and paean resonated deeply with me. The soundtrack is lovely and the ending song exquisite. Diana Kurys has produced a gentle, splendid film. Unfortunately its gentleness might lead it to be overlooked and/or undervalued.