Beautiful Nadine is caught between two men she loves deeply – this brief description might serve to convey the central motif of the film. Yet Żuławski’s drama is a reflection of the director’s perspective on human relationships and, as such, can only end in tragedy. Nadine is an actress appearing in trashy films, fragile Jacques is her devoted husband, and Servais is a photographer who borrows money from wealthy but perverse old men in order to help Nadine get a stage part in Richard III. This film is nevertheless also about the hopelessness of the situations people find themselves in, it’s about innocent victims and all-pervading evil, and it describes the conditions out there somewhere on the very fringes of the film industry. Żuławski here asserts his reputation as a sublime filmmaker who speaks in the language of extremes, both in terms of subject matter and expression. He knows how to exploit melodrama in an innovative way and to draw out vivid, eloquent performances from his cast. Nadine is one of Romy Schneider’s key roles and she made such an impression on Pedro Almodóvar that he declared her one of the inspirations for the film All About My Mother.