An Unmarried Woman


An Unmarried Woman is a 1978 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Mazursky and starring Jill Clayburgh and Alan Bates. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and Clayburgh was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Plot

The perfect life of wealthy New York City wife Erica Benton is shattered when her stockbroker husband Martin leaves her for a younger woman. The film documents Erica's attempts at being single again, where she suffers confusion, sadness, and rage.
As her life progresses, she begins to bond with several friends and finds herself inspired and even happier by her renewed liberation. The story also touches on the overall sexual liberation of the 1970s. Erica eventually finds love with a rugged, yet sensitive British artist.

Cast

The abstract expressionist paintings in the film were created by artist Paul Jenkins, who taught Alan Bates his painting technique for his acting role.

Awards and honors

It was nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Mazursky's screenplay won awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.
Clayburgh won the award for Best Actress at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival.
The film was also nominated for several 1978 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, including Best Film, Best Direction, and Best Actress.
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
in The New York Times wrote "Miss Clayburgh is nothing less than extraordinary in what is the performance of the year to date. In her we see intelligence battling feelingreason backed against the wall by pushy needs."
Pauline Kael in The New Yorker wrote:
, An Unmarried Woman holds a rating of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews.