Paris Was a Woman: Paris When It Sizzled

An adaptation of Andrea Weiss’s 1995 book of the same name, the 1996 documentary Paris Was a Woman shines a light on the women artists, writers, and cultural trendsetters that populated Paris at the turn of the 20th century. Directed by Greta Schiller, written by Weiss, and smoothly narrated by the actress Juliet Stevenson, the film—now available in a new 4K restoration for its 30th anniversary—mixes photos, archival footage, interviews, and more to evoke the heady atmosphere of that very specific time and place, one that so many women (queer women, in particular) flocked to based on the promise of intellectual and artistic freedom. Paris Was a Woman paints its portraits of these women in broad brushstrokes, with little in the way of in-depth detail, but audience members intrigued by the era and its leading lights will likely still find much to interest them. 

The Pure and the Impure

One of the cleverest storytelling devices utilized in Paris Was a Woman is a map of the Left Bank that introduces each woman profiled in the film by first showing us where they lived. It begins with the writer Gertrude Stein and her longtime partner, Alice B. Toklas, describing Stein’s patronage of Picasso and her pivotal role in the beginning of the Cubism movement in art. 

From there, the film expands outward to introduce us to other people in their orbit, including Sylvia Beach, the founder of Shakespeare & Co. and a leading figure in the publishing world; Adrienne Monnier, Beach’s partner and the owner of her own bookstore, La Maison des Amis des Livres, which doubled as a lending library; Janet Flanner, the longtime Paris correspondent for The New Yorker, who often wrote under the pseudonym Genet; Natalie Clifford Barney, an heiress who hosted one of the preeminent literary salons of the day; and Djuna Barnes, the artist and illustrator responsible for groundbreaking works of lesbian literature. 

So Much More Than Midnight in Paris

With few exceptions, most of the women highlighted in Paris Was a Woman are American expats; Colette, perhaps the most prominent woman writer living and working in Paris at that time, is brought up only briefly, which feels, if not egregious, at least unfortunate. The film devotes far more time to Stein’s friendship with Picasso, describing them as kindred spirits, and Beach’s contentious relationship with James Joyce, whose work she advocated for and published when it was still banned in the United States. Her reward was Joyce betraying her to sign with a big publisher, ruining her financially. (It also hurt her relationship with Stein, who was resentful that Beach devoted more energy to championing Joyce’s work than to hers.) 

Obviously, Picasso and Joyce are prominent figures from that time and place, and it’s hard to examine the lives of Stein and Beach without mentioning their involvement with them; however, in what is only a 75 minute film, less time could have been devoted to these women’s relationships with these men and more to their relationships with the other women around them. Monnier, in particular, stands out as one of the most fascinating characters in the film; her role in pioneering the concept of the lending library within her bookstore deserves its own documentary.

Paris Was a Woman also unfortunately glosses over much of what makes some of these women, when viewed through a modern lens, rather problematic. This is not to say that we shouldn’t celebrate their work, much of which remains inspiring and revolutionary to this day; merely that we should acknowledge that the times have changed, and that some of these women—largely very privileged white women, despite their queerness—held some unpleasant views. For instance, a delightful clip of Josephine Baker performing on stage includes narration taken from one of Flanner’s columns that fetishizes Baker’s body in a way that can only be described as racist, while Barney being a fascist sympathizer who moved to Mussolini’s Italy during World War II is quickly glossed over during the film’s conclusion. 

The film features some remarkably cool archival footage, including that aforementioned clip of Baker (who deserved more screen time) and some footage from L’invitation au voyage, a 1927 short by French filmmaking pioneer Germaine Dulac (who also deserved more screen time). In addition, there are plenty of great still images from the era courtesy of photographer Gisèle Freund, who also appears on screen in interview clips sharing her experiences from the era. She is one of the most valuable of the talking heads who appear in Paris Was a Woman, though Barney’s longtime housekeeper also has plenty of amusing anecdotes to share. 

Conclusion

Paris Was a Woman succeeds as an introduction to early 20th century Paris and some of its most important female creatives, but those looking for a more intensive look at the era will feel compelled to conduct further research of their own. I recommend they start by reading Colette.

The new 4K restoration of Paris Was a Woman opens at Metrograph in New York on October 16, 2026.