christopher-underwood
I remember being stunned when i saw this in the cinema in the 60s and i am delighted to find that it holds up so well. The chapter heads look a little forced now but that hasn't stopped others copying it and it does avoid the compulsion to adhere to a strict narrative flow. Wonderful performance from Anna Karina and such good cinematography from the masterful, Raoul Coutard. We see nothing in the round, nothing in the whole. A corner of a wall, part of a poster or street sign and only bits and pieces of the performers most of the time. A marvellous sequence in a record shop begins fairly ordinarily then runs along the record racks before slipping sideways and giving us a view out of the window. It is not forced or theatrical but just how things really are. The opening section is set with the boy and girl sat at a mirrored bar. We see only the backs of their heads but for the occasional reflection, yet it seems so real, a truth touched upon in all its fragility. The dialogue throughout most of the film is stark and spare but more poetic and rounded towards the end, culminating in the inspired 'chat' between Karina and 'the philosopher' when all is made clear. The denouement is a farcical but dreadful surprise and the direction throughout, assured and audacious. This may or may not be truth 24 frames a second but certainly it is true cinema!
davikubrick
Jean-Luc Godard is one of the hardest filmmakers to like, films like "Breathless" and "Pierrot le fou" may not please many especially fans of blockbusters and even fans of independent films and different kind of movies, but Vivre sa Vie (or My life to live) is perhaps his most accessible and realistic work to be its most distinctive film, this film, Godard virtually sacrifices the type of cinema that made him a world cinema icon, but the Godard cinema can still be found on this film. Divided into 12 chapters (or "tableaux"), A young Parisian woman who abandoned her husband and son to try to be an actress in Paris, but with no other option, she becomes a prostitute. The film, unlike the other from the director, has little background music and a few dialogue's typical that director usually put in his films, he uses a realistic atmosphere and little pleasant showing 12 unconnected but salient parts, some a little depressing,of the life of this woman (Nana, played by Anna Karina, Godard's muse)while she is in Paris. The film addresses issues such as prostitution, disappointment and the difficulty of trying to live a new life and end up going to an even worse, the cruelty of fate, and various other themes in a realistic and little conventional way. Even if the movie has some depressing scenes, there are some funny and somewhat relaxed scenes. Sometimes, words do not say everything we want and then they disappoint us, the same thing as fate made with Nana.
Nuno Duarte
By Jean-Luc Godard, Nana (Anna Karina) left her life to become an actress in Paris. As expected, she does not succeed and finds it very tough to make a living. She eventually ends up in despair and when a friends tells her that she prostituted to get easy money, Nana reconsiders her job at a record store and gets a pimp. It's easy too understand why Vivre Sa Vie does not show up between Godard's most famous movies. Firstly, the point of dividing the movie in twelve scenes is quite odd. Tough the story has some continuity the scenes aren't expressly combined. Not saying the movie is boring, it's just easy to lose interest. The best feature lies on some dialogues. Mostly two, at first between Nana and Yvette(Guylaine Schlumberger) and the latter with le philosophe (The philosopher - Brice Parain), especially the last one, where its reconsidered the difference between thinking and talking, as well as its necessity, between other very interesting topics. Very inspiring scene indeed. Anna Karina, who also performed Odile in Bande À Part, showed a great versatility though it wasn't very captivating despite her lovely fairness. 7/10
greekhero
"Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux" is another one by Godard ("A bout de suffle" was the previous) about wasted youth, going down and losing any sort of control (plans, dreams, perspective, whatever) over life.In this case it is a brief and intense story of a young beautiful woman (Nana) confused whether to pursue the acting career and at the same time desperately trying to make the ends meet and therefore opted to prostitution instead.Youth is a time when we are particularly fragile and vulnerable, when lifetime opportunities are mixed with risks of failing big time, and many factors, events, acquaintances may influence our choice and chances. Yet we are fully responsible for what we do and the current state is the consequence of our actions. In one scene Nana says the more or less same thing.She is not dumb, spoiled and empty-headed chick, on the contrary, however her choice and actions led her to the downfall and no one cared or tried to help her like it usually happens in life, sad and sometimes cruel and ordinary thing. And the genius of Godard revealed in making it rather disturbing and thought-provocative in the minimalistic and very expressive way. One might also find it especially poignant as we all have our moments wasted perhaps not so dramatically. Anna Karina is absolutely stunning in this film, her yearning eyes filled with melancholy, confusion and sadness and fragile beauty are captivating.
AD
