To put into context Bresson's manner where he has utilized the power of understatement, using intentionally unemotional and stripped down acting to create a vision where all the flaws of human nature, the tragedy and comedy of the most basic and random of human behaviors, become accentuated and the viewer's consciousness becomes open, soft, vulnerable to the sharp blade of these suggestions. All the subtleties of the mental and emotional experience are subdued and then unleashed at certain times to cut like a razor for example the part where Elle looks in the mirror before killing herself and gives a slight grin evoking a sense of something rotten. The film investigates themes of power play between man and wife, possession, death, resentment and jealousy. Elle clearly doesn't want to be possessed, as indicated by her initial avoidance of Luc and her last statement to him which is a pre-trigger to killing herself ("i will be faithful only to you" etc) and perhaps the monkey in a cage at the zoo is a metaphor for this. "Millions of women wish to be married" ... "But there are also monkeys".... Bresson's movies like this are highly recommended for their style and originality.
Review of A Gentle Woman
