Vivre sa vie (1962) User Reviews

Intriguing and expressive.

[Rockwell_Cronenberg · 8/10 · 20 February 2012]

So far in my exploration of Jean-Luc Godard I have remained in his masterful decade of the '60s, and as a result I've been treated mostly to films that are fun and exciting, toying with structure and cinematic conventions. Vivre Sa Vie fits firmly in his career, but it's also a surprising contrast to his other work which I have seen so far. Even in his more narratively focused Breathless, there's still a very cinematic quality to it, portraying a sense of freedom of expression and romanticism. Vivre Sa Vie strips away all of that and elects instead to present an almost documentarian look into the descent of the young Nana (Anna Karina, naturally) into prostitution.

The structure of the film is split into twelve episodes that bring us through Nana's progression. She's a young Parisian girl working at a record shop who wants to be in the movies, but needs money to pay her rent. It's a simple story, but the way Godard tells it is what makes it so intriguing. He presents Nana as an object of desire to many but an object of interest to very few. The men around her aren't interested in what she has to say, they put up with her words in order to get to what they are really looking for, her body and ways to profit off of it.

Karina's dance scene is classic Godard, but his unique approach to this film makes it much less freeing than in his other works. The dance in Band of Outsiders is a jaunty display of youthful rhythm and A Woman Is A Woman is loaded with fun numbers, but here the art of dance takes on an entirely different, and much more tragic, meaning. For Nana, it's a desperate plea to get attention using the only thing that she knows how, her body. In regards to the film, Godard stated, "The few episodes in her life that I am going to film are very likely of little interest to others, but most important to Nana," and I feel that he accomplished his goal very well here.

These episodes to most would seem relatively mundane, just normal days in the life of a prostitute, conversations and interactions of the daily routine, but for Nana they mean so much more. Her trip to the cinema to see The Passion of Joan of Arc has become almost iconic in Godard's legacy, and for good reason. In this moment Godard removes us from our state as voyeurs and instead plays us into Nana's position. He displays Nana as the film viewer, presenting the kind of emotional impact and life revelation that cinema can have on someone and getting the audience to completely empathize with her. Nana becomes the audience and, as a result, the audience becomes her.

The descent into prostitution is intriguing here, thanks in large part to the captivating and expressive work by Godard's muse, but Godard's metaphor for the life of an actress is also a fascinating theme that one can't help but notice. Displays Nana as the prostitute in her world of pimps and photographers, people passing her back and forth like a piece of meat, it certainly seems that he's making a statement on the film industry and the nature of exploitation in how actors are treated. They are passed back and forth by directors, producers, even the audience, and used for their image, much like a prostitute, and it's up to the actress to keep themselves in tact. As the opening quote of the film states, "Lend yourself to others. But give yourself to yourself".

I've seen people refer to the film as the "morning after" state of the Godard/Karina dynamic and I think that's an interesting way of looking at it. They had collaborated several times before, and would collaborate for many years after still, but Vivre Sa Vie seems to be the most intimate and exposing look into the relationship between the two of them as lovers and the relationship between actor and director at large. It's a very introspective journey that Godard takes us on, and certainly one of the most impressive I've seen from him yet.

Godard classic

[Chris_Docker · 9/10 · 16 April 2009]

As the film opens Paul and Nana are going through a break-up. Each is filmed with their back to the camera. As Nana says she wants to die, it makes me think that, when we turn our back on the most significant person in our life, it can be like turning our backs on life itself. Such a big part of our identity is bound up with them that there seems nothing left. It is as if we have failed to heed the advice of Montaigne, quoted at the end of the opening credits: "Lend yourself to others and give yourself to yourself." Of course, Godard may not be intending for me to have such thoughts. For much of the film I get the distinct impression that he does not want me to interpret anything as anything, but just to accept it as it is. But the film, within a few minutes, has sparked off some interesting and worthwhile thought in me and I like this. It seems to be what art should do. And that it should do it simply by existing, not by trying to convey some message of its own.

For much of the film that follows, part of my mind is taken up with enjoying the crisp black and white photography. The streets of Paris, and other simple but finely observed detail. The lustre of Anna Karina's hair – she plays Nana – is as enchanting as if I were talking to her. And maybe talking about nothing very much in particular so that my mind could wander to such things. The quality of the print is sufficient to make out individual hairs – or hairline cracks in walls and furniture.

The overall effect – taken with some other devices that I only slowly become aware of – is to give a documentary-like feel to what the camera is seeing. Nana splits from Paul and drifts into prostitution. It happens without any big dramatics. She has been working in a record store, is having trouble paying her back rent, and, after a few other minor incidents, we see her with her first client. The look of repressed emotion on her face is one of the most stark and memorable images in the film. A bit like Edvard Munch's painting, The Scream. But sublimated into what is portrayed as a very everyday setting.

Later, in a rapid monotone, Nana's pimp even gives us a run-down of prices, laws, regulations and practices. It is almost the Brechtian splitting of the film into twelve chapters (each with long titles telling us what is about to happen), and Godard's increasingly frequent experiments that separate the sound from the image, that remind us this is fiction, not docu-drama.

For instance, towards the end and when Nana is with a young man she rather likes (and the attraction seems mutual, maybe love), their conversation is not heard by us but only seen on the screen as subtitles. They are communicating soundlessly perhaps, as lovers do.

There is a long scene where she discusses the meaning of language with an old man, a philosopher (played by Godard's former philosophy teacher). Although this is outwardly quite deep, I did not find the arguments nearly as profound or rigorous as in Godard's later film, 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her. Prostitution is not used here, as it is in 2 or 3 things, as a political metaphor. Susan Sontag, in her aptly titled essays, Against Interpretation, suggests that it is, "the most radical metaphor for the separating out of the elements of a life – as a testing ground, a crucible for the study of what is essential and what is superfluous in a life." She sees Nana as having divested herself of her old identity and taken on her new identity – that of a prostitute.

In the version I watched, quite a few lines were omitted from the English subtitling, so my smattering of French came in useful. But I needed some of the subtler French puns on the 'life' and 'chickens' pointed out to me.

As the film came to its not untypically Godard-like abrupt ending, I wondered for a minute if it was as great as some people often claim. The celebrated critic Roger Ebert, for instance, singles it out as one of the great movies of all time. My mind wandered to such movies as Last Year at Marienbad, and Jules and Jim, both made about the same time and which have left quite a deep impression on me. But only for a minute.

Vivre Sa Vie is different, yet again, to any other work by Godard. But it is deceptively unassuming, and a remarkably solid piece of work for all its sense of transience (Godard compared cinema to a train rather than the station). It can also be seen as a love letter from Godard to his wife, the beautifully photographed Anna Karina.

pinball machines

[raintothesoundofpanic · 9/10 · 22 March 2007]

"Birds are creatures with an outside, and an inside. When you remove the outside, you see the inside. When you remove the inside, you see the soul." "Vivre Sa Vie" is an incredibly desultory film about a confused girl (Nana) with an existential crisis; namely, the task of reconciling her decision to become a prostitute with her belief in a free will. As the repercussions of the "painting" she has rendered gradually spiral out of control, Nana becomes progressively more alienated from and confused about her life. This culminates in a chilling scene in a diner, where she lays her soul bare before a well-meaning philosopher, who responds to her desperate queries about the gulf between words and emotions with more words. Erudite words that she cannot possibly understand.

Godard probes his favorite existential motifs with wonderful sensitivity here. When Miss Karina espouses her belief that a "plate is a plate" and a "life is a life", the overwhelming sadness in her eyes betrays the torment of a woman who feels torn from her self by circumstance. Nana turns to prostitution after breaking with her lover, failing to secure a spot in the movies, and being evicted from her flat. Watching her struggle to exact some control over a world that is clearly much bigger than her designs is emotionally draining.

As usual with Godard, the cinematography is lush and his cinema eye is constantly roving. Before Nana's first trick, the camera cuts from Karina's panicked eyes, to a bar of soap. It is a relatively simple, yet effective, symbol that defines a relatively simple, yet affecting film.

The director and the pimp

[apeart · 10/10 · 11 April 2004]

There is more to this film, in terms of its story, than a woman's descent into prostitution. To a large extent, it is the story of Godard's failing relationship with Karina. Or perhaps it presents Godard's overall view of the director's relationship to the actress, the artist's relationship to his subject.

Possible spoilers.

Aside from Nana, there are three characters crucial to the story: the photographer, the pimp, and the guy who reads excerpts from Poe. There are two particularly telling scenes: Nana's viewing of Joan of Arc and the subtle appearance of the Elizabeth Taylor photograph behind Nana as the Poe story is read to her.

First, the photographer. He offers Nana her last chance at an entrance into films. Soon after their meeting she falls into prostitution. He resembles the pimp in manner. Are films and prostitution the same? Rather, are the director and the pimp the same?

The real representation of the director is the guy who reads the Poe story. In fact, he represents Godard himself. This is the guy who buys Nana cigarettes, and when we see Nana consorting with him after all of her degrading experiences, it is like a breath of fresh air. He is going to glorify her and raise her to the status that she deserves. He is an artist and he portrays her ("This is our story," he says of the Poe story. "An artist portraying his love."). The Poe excerpt ends with the death of the artist's love, his subject. He drained the life from her and into the canvas. If this is their story, is the guy draining the life from Nana? Isn't that what the pimp has been doing? The pimp and the director are the same.

Nana sees Joan of Arc judged by men, and she ostensibly relates. As the Poe story is read, we see the photo of Elizabeth Taylor behind Nana. Godard is encouraging us to judge Nana (or Karina) in comparison to Elizabeth Taylor. She is being killed, just as Joan of Arc was, by this judgement. The director and the pimp are the same. Godard prostituted Karina, at least he thought so when he wrote this story. He drained the life from her and into his canvas, the screen, and presented her for our judgement. Our Nana doesn't realize that whether she had made into films or had fallen into prostitution, the end result would have been the same. La morte.

For Ever Godard

[Fiona-39 · 21 February 2003]

This has become my favourite Godard. It doesn't have the jazzy razzamatazz and classic Paris shots of A bout de souffle, or the invigorating Marxist politics of Tout va bien, or the beautiful scenary, beautiful body and beautiful music of Le Mepris, but it has a softness and a depth that are just haunting. It has a documentary quality in its most reflective moments, when we see Nana lighting a cigarette or undoing her cardigan. It is a film that is made up of disparate strands - poetic, documentary, melodramatic. It both creates Nana as star of the piece, with her sweet smile, beautiful coats, and cropped hair, and even, at one point, identification with Joan of Arc, yet undermines this to underline how ordinary, how vulnerable, even how banal she is. If you're new to Godard, start with this.

Live Your Life (Easier Said than Done)...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 18 January 2023]

What would you do, when you're money's all run through, and there's nowhere left to stay, but if there was you couldn't pay; how would you feel, as the world becomes surreal, with opportunities restricted, coming close to be convicted; would you give yourself to others, be consumed, encased and smothered, letting people you don't know, go cheek to cheek, above, below; would you overstep that line, always accept, without decline, dancing to the grinders tune, with inhibitions now immune; when the world does you no favours, and there's nothing left to savour, can you really be that sure, you won't knock at, the devils door; as the pressure and the pain, bellow the all-consuming flame, just remember each new day, you have a voice, something to say.

Anna Karina is outstanding.

The Summary of Sixties Godard

[TheFamilyBerzurcher · 9/10 · 7 March 2012]

The crux of 60's Godard. His quirks are broken down into twelve segments manageable for the inexperienced viewer. If only one Godard film is to be watched, it might be this one. Though none of us would want to live in that world.

The film opens with an entrancing first ten minutes. The credit sequence and ensuing scene introduce the crucial theme of acting versus reality. Nana, played by Anna Karina, seems to never truly escape the personality of the actress who portrays her. Instead of avoiding this, Godard embraces the ambiguity and creates an entire film that obsesses over Karina's image. From the credits to "Fin"? the audience, like Nana, is fixated on her outward appearance. She constantly references her desire to be in movies and have her picture taken. Ultimately, she becomes a prostitute, seemingly the only place to turn for a girl who allows herself to be mercilessly controlled by men. This tragedy is underscored by her clear desire to be "special"? and, most potently, in her tearful viewing of Jeanne d'arc, a woman who faces death at the hands of men. Nana's personality and development can be seen as a vehicle for Godard's philosophy on film. The "men photographing women" had become perverted to the point of solicitation and death. The obvious parallels between the ending of VIVRE and BREATHLESS suggest a pessimistic condemnation of contemporary law and society.

Godard's deliberate camera motion, defiant attitude towards cinematic grammar, and clear pacing created a film that, though fictional, is one of the most honest human portraits available. Always experimenting with sound, the director never succumbs to standard over-the- shoulder dialogue sequences. Instead, he accesses another level of meaning by making deliberate choices over who is seen when saying specific words. Sometimes there are cuts and sometimes there are pans, but never is there a decision that seems arbitrary or purely for the sake of ease. While Godard's films do own a simple and unashamed quality that might lend itself to less expensive filmmaking, it is clear that his choices serve specific purposes and are always a slave to the greater objectives in the film. One of the most striking scenes in VIVRE SA VIE is where Nana is writing a letter. It is a simple act on which most directors would only spend a few seconds. Instead, Godard places a close-up on the letter and allows the audience to watch the entire process and become engulfed in Nana's (or Karina's) beautiful handwriting and the earnest quality of the letter.

VIVRE SA VIE successfully provides a tidy summary of Godard's quirky brilliance. For those willing to explore his genius, this film is the ideal starting place (if not working chronologically). But be careful. Once his capabilities are discovered, they will never leave you.

89.8

My Life to Live

[Scarecrow-88 · 8/10 · 7 May 2010]

Nana is a self-absorbed struggling actress(working in a store selling records) wanting to make it, and Paul is a sad-sack writer, with no money, who adores her, but is a flunky to her. Both have been "acquaintenances" for quite some time it seems, although, as we see in the opening conversation, they can barely stand being near each other anymore, the vitriol present as they engage in not-so-pleasant banter(in an interesting decision, Godard shoots them from behind as they "chat"). Using Paul for monetary purposes, Nana straggles him along, disposing of him when no longer needed..when asked by someone she meets late at a diner after a movie, Nana tells the date Paul is a brother.

If I seem a little unsympathetic, the movie, although it's clear Godard's camera worships Karina, doesn't exactly cast Nana in the most positive light, but, during a police interrogation, we see she's so desperate for money, she tries to steal 1000 francs which fell out of a woman's purse onto the street..it's here we can see that she's just struggling like many of us, and has a yearning to taste the good life(she agrees to a shoot, requiring nudity, a sleazy photographer promising potential movie success for her).

When there seems to be no alternative, Nana decides, albeit reluctantly, to prostitute herself. Eventually embracing the profession, she begins hooking for a nefarious pimp named Raoul who seems to be conducting business with crooked gangster types. Godard's film, however, is less interested in Raoul's activities, more concerned with Nana and how she makes out in her new career. Not long after meeting Raoul, violence is established, Godard's camera speed rat-a-tat-tatting as a tommy gun goes off, a man entering the café for which Nana is dining with a bloody face, crying aloud, "My eyes!" This could very well be a sign of things to come as Nana associates herself with a man whose connections to this world emerge later.

A steady stream of customers flood through her new life as a prostitute, while becoming educated regarding the tricks of the trade(we hear the rules of the road from an insider to Nana preparing her for the times ahead, and see that she conducts herself in a matter-of-fact fashion, simply business as usual, drowning out the moral implications of such behavior, accepting this decision as a means to survive). Nana will eventually find someone, desire to leave this lifestyle, and discover that it is not so easy to break from Raoul who plans to "trade" her away as if a piece of property to discard when money troubles arrive.

A stylistic choice, Godard augments Nana's progressive story with chapter titles, and his camera can't take it's eye off of Karina..sure the camera, at times, will focus on something else, but notice how it doesn't(or can not)stay away very long. A scene that struck a chord with me was the moment early on in the theater as Nana watches Dreyer's Jeanne d'arc..curious to if this is a comment of martyrdom as it pertains to Nana's future.

Admittedly, I'm no Rhodes Scholar and there are passages where some dumb hick like me did go, "Huh?"(a dinner conversation between Nana and some older intellectual in the middle of reading The Three Musketeers about the difficulty of communication, an example). That's par for the course as Godard's film on prostitution has plenty of these types of moments where some passage from a book or poem is read aloud as the camera moves about, focusing on Paris' city streets or on Karina herself(often listening to another talk, taking in their words intently). Of course, Godard must allow Karina her shimmy-and-shake jukebox trot. What an interesting face(just beautiful)Karina has and Godard doesn't hesitate to return to it time and again.

I won't deny Godard is talented, but...

[TheCorniestLemur · 6/10 · 1 February 2021]

Yes, this is something I had to watch for uni, could you tell?

Amazingly, even though I'm in my second year, this is the first Godard film I've seen, and while I can definitely say I love his direction, I can't say much else about this really grabbed me.

It's only 80 minutes long, but even then I was getting a little bored by the end, and I think it can only be put down to the fact that for all the many gorgeous shots that ensure Anna Karina has as much room as possible to show off her performance (which is really good to be fair), I simply don't care about her.

There's really nothing special about the story to me, not after nearly 60 years of these kinds of dramas becoming quite common in the French New Wave's wake, and good god is the ending the very definition of an anticlimax.

I'm also not a big fan of how the plot seems to grind to a halt every so often so the characters can have a long philosophical quote-off, and the more I think about it, the more I could have narrowed all this down to the simple fact that I don't really care about the main character, and leave it there.

But I think I'll eventually see a Godard film that does really grab me the way this one unfortunately didn't, because he is responsible for nearly all the best parts of this film. Every shot is beautifully thought out, the editing is precise as hell, and he brought a great performance out of all the actors.

And since I'm a film student, I give it an average of three weeks before I'm forced to see another one, so fingers crossed.

The cold lens of Godard

[StevePulaski · 9/10 · 4 March 2014]

During the 1960's, Jean-Luc Godard made fifteen feature-length pictures that owed themselves to the French New Wave movement, where young, "reckless" filmmakers made audacious attempts to defy the conventions of mainstream French cinema. Godard among many others decided to figuratively illustrate the book of common cinematic conventions and proceed to rip them up before concocting their own rebellious form of filmmaking, which, overall, seemed to want to hit the bases of reality's imperfections, coldness in story and characters, violence, and the physical and metaphorical chaos of modern society.

Some of the above themes are what Godard uses to write and direct Vivre Sa Vie, a thought-provoking and consistently fascinating mood-piece, focusing on a woman by the name of Nana, played by the beautiful Anna Karina. Nana is a young Parisian twentysomething, aimlessly drifting through life after she leaves the safe but relatively unremarkable confines of her homelife, which involved a husband and a child. She's heavily strapped for cash, with her job as a shopgirl providing for what little income she already has, and soon realizes that leading a viable life on so little is just not a reality.

She decides to take up life as a prostitute, which she'll earn better money doing instead of the day-in-and-day-out drudgery of being a shopgirl. She becomes the employee of Raoul (Sady Rebbot), your average pimp who takes advantage of Nana's youngness and gorgeous looks in order to turn a profit.

Throughout the entire film, Godard conducts Vivre Sa Vie with pure, uneasy coldness, staging the picture into twelve separate chapters ("tableaus"). Each chapter, marked by a descriptive title-card, gives insight into Nan's particular stage in life at that moment in time and provides for a neatly-punctual little narrative that Godard smoothly orchestrates.

Vivre Sa Vie ("My Life to Live" in English) seems like a film that would be made in present times because of its documentary-style filmmaking (more formerly known as "cinéma vérité"). More informally, the film bears a slice-of-life realism to it that is just beginning to gain considerable momentum in American cinema and only proves that Godard was ahead of his time, making a film like this in 1962.

With the film's polished and clear videography, Godard strayed away from the hand-held-camera techniques of his earlier films such as Breathless and his final New Wave picture of the 1960's, Weekend. Godard uses what is known as a Mitchell camera to capture his carefully-framed and elegant shots that point where few cameras have pointed before. Godard continues to defy normalcy by pointing the camera at places uncommon, such as the back of Nana's head while she's speaking in conversation, or allowing the camera to hold in place during one long shot. Godard's camera techniques are aplenty and his ambition is most often met with an unexpected and very pleasant success.

Furthermore, Godard knows how to write meaningful, sometimes philosophical dialog that finds ways to be hugely relevant and even deeply-contemplative. Consider the scene where Raoul tells Nana the value of a prostitute, detailing her job description and her role as a woman without many rights and robbed of her individuality and her humanity. She's a piece of meat for lonely men searching for a quick sexual fix that often finds ways to be completely unsexual and unromantic. Raoul illustrates this idea of what it means to be a prostitute in the coldest, yet most fitting way possible.

Another conversation comes near the end, where Nana meets a random soul in a diner and strikes up a conversation. The man turns out to be a deeply thoughtful and wise man who seems to be looking for simple human companionship. Him and Nana have a delightfully philosophical conversation, showing that even two people who've never met one in another in their life possess the ability to connect with each other on an unexpected personal level, fulfilling one another in ways they never found foreseeable.

Make no mistake, however, that Vivre Sa Vie is a cold and often detaching film that leaves little room for connecting with the characters in any way. After viewing four Godard films, three of which from the French New Wave, detachment seems to be an overarching theme for reasons I'm not sure I can adequately explain. Godard seems unable to allow his characters to be more than just unmoving littler pawns in his cinematic game. Despite giving Nana several traits and some debatable motives, even she has her own coldness to her being. At this point, I'm waiting for the film where instead of pushing us about a foot away from the film, Godard grabs us in and gives us a setting, an event, or a more fleshed out character to connect with.

Starring: Anna Karina and Sady Rebbot. Directed by: Jean-Luc Godard.

It's a sad world, and Godard knew it!

[Artemis-9 · 7/10 · 26 March 2001]

My father had a lot of trouble to explain me what those men were doing, laying against the wall on a busy Sunday street, where there were a number of women in flashy clothes going up and down the street, looking at the men who passed by instead of doing window-shopping like me, and my father. It was 1954, in Lisbon. I came to know the men were pimps, and although I always respected the 'girls who were in the life', the pimp became my pet hate, to this day.

Does Goddard make an outstanding political speech here? I'm not sure. But now I understand why everybody was speaking of his 'Nana' in the Sixties. It's a poignant story, clear and sharp, with no tears but more like a gut punch. Particularly for the (unexpected?) ending. I disagree with those who said that the 12 scenes of the movie are 'unconnected'. They are connected! But the film should be fully appreciated on a second viewing for it, may be. These days, people are not able to cope with this much philosophy in a single film.

It's also a sad world when you discover, in 2001, that this film runs 85 minutes in the USA, 83m in Portugal, and 80m in France (it's so described in "Cinéguide" des Presses de la Cité (ed.1992). France shows the most short of the current versions of this wonderful movie about streetwalkers and pimps, about workers and profiteers; therefore, the most 'cut' or censored version - be it political or commercial censorship. France! the country that represented for me Liberty, Fraternity and Equality, when I was a 6 year-old kid opening his eyes to the beauty of chandeliers in a shop window, the beauty of girls in high-heels and knee-length skirts, and the wrongness of the half part of the world who lived without working, squeezing money of those who worked. Even if the work was - like Nana's - lending her body to other people...

Godard has a great piece of Parisian character-fiction

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 8 January 2004]

(minor spoilers ahead)

I've started to get a little more used to Godard, and now by My Life to Live I know I can expect anything from him, though it's sometimes a style that he presents frankly, stylishly, or in an experimentally real approach. Along with his masterful cinematographer Raoul Coutard, the mis en scene he creates in each episode is equally satisfying. And there is a terrific balance in how the camera may just stay for minutes at a time on a character before moving and how the camera may show off (impressively) for the viewer.

For example, there's a moment when Nana (played by Godard's wife Anna Karina) is a café, and gun shots are heard outside, the camera seems to cut - or move - to the sounds and beats of shots being fired, tracking like this all the way across the bar to the window. It was stunning to see that being done, not just for the sake of the scene's twist to intensity, but it perfectly skims the line of stage-ness and reality- if you were positioned in that café, how would you see things as your head turns to look to the street? Godard raises and answers some film-making questions that pay off in the best new-wave type fashion. His dialog, too, is fascinating, and a philosophical discussion between two characters gives me an indication as to what might have inspired Richard Linklater, perhaps.

Then there's Anna Karina as Nana, a woman who leaves her husband and child (you have to listen sharp to note when the child's mentioned) and gets kicked out of her home by the concierge. She has a job in a record store, but doesn't keep it, wanders the streets, sees a movie (very emotionally touching scene), and tries to get an acting job, or some money together. Then she gets drawn into, without an ounce of remorse, the prostitution ring-around, learning that there isn't nearly as much emphasis on lawbreaking in the business in Paris as there is with medical concerns. Karina, with a face, eyes, hair, and body that has a sweet level of (distant) attraction, plays Nana in a wonderful way- we get inklings that she can be happy (dancing to music in a pool-hall is the highlight), though she's at best when she hides it under her demeanor. She smokes, she has a lot of sex, she has talks that sometimes don't go anywhere, but is the viewer ever let in to who she really is or what her motives are day to day? This is a credit to her, as well as Godard, in creating this memorable figure in the early 60's New-wave of French cinema.

Credit should also be given to Michael Legrand's theme (though repetitive, has a sort of purpose for many scenes).

Curse of Beauty.

[barberoux · 7/10 · 18 November 2002]

"Vivre sa vie" was an entrancing movie. I think it was the presence of Anna Karina that made the movie hypnotic. Her face captures your attention and draws you into the movie. In fact I think it was her beauty that caused her tragic end. (Onset of a SPOILER warning.) I think Nana's beauty attracted so much attention that she never had to develop a talent or skill to make it in the world. She lived off of her looks. She thought she could make it in "the movies" based on her looks alone. Unfortunately she drifted into prostitution, using her looks to make money, and got involved with a pimp. The scenes of her with her clients were of interest because it seems the men she was with really didn't comment on her beauty. The sex scenes were rather passionless. The men in the pool room ignored her when talking business and when the one did pay attention to her he acted like a fool to amuse her. She existed to be entertained or to entertain, never to be treated seriously. When the young man in the pool room did treat her with some respect and read to her she fell for him and decided to leave her pimp and start a life with him. But the pimp had other ideas and sold her, like a piece of property, that she was, to another pimp, a business transaction. Tragically the deal goes bad and Nana is shot, by both pimps, and left on the street, like a piece of litter. (SPOILER warning defunct.) I think this is a fate of many beautiful women in our western society. They are fawned over because of their beauty but really ignored when things turn serious. They are walking art. Look at Hollywood's treatment of starlets. When young they are hot stars and are all over the celebrity news shows but they quickly grow older, lose their ripeness, and are replaced by younger actresses. They think the interest in them is about some talent they have but it is just because of their beauty. Maybe "Vivre sa vie" is about those starlets. They are pimped then discarded. The movie is worth seeing since it invokes introspection.

One of the best movies ever

[mdamien13 · 20 September 2000]

The French New Wave remains one of the finest movements in film history. Jean-Luc Godard was one of the most innovative filmmakers to emerge from this movement, and Vivre sa vie is one of the best films ever. Long before the Hong Kong cinema proved substance could be downplayed with style, Godard was doing it. The film's plot follows a woman's descent into prostitution, but the story isn't what people will talk about after viewing the film. Godard breaks every Hollywood rule and pulls it off nicely.

If you want to see the conventions of Hollywood broken and a true auteur at work, rent Vivre sa vie.

Totally Engrossed

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 29 April 2021]

Anna Karina is absolutely stunning. We are taken in by her beauty from the opening moments in the diner. She knows how powerful she is to men and she manipulates that power to try to survive. She is, for all practical purposes, homeless. She tries to borrow money for subsistence but no one will loan it to her. She has asked too many times. She dreams of being in movies but doesn't seem to have the ambition or the plan. It isn't long before she experiments with prostitution, which will become the ultimate complicator in her life. She is so closed up that no one can really befriend her. We see foreshadowing when she goes to see the silent Joan of Arc, and her response to Joan's martyrdom and her faith. It's a sad film that takes one along from one moment to the next.

Brooding, seedy, chic French New Wave

[stephparsons · 8/10 · 11 December 2013]

Now who doesn't enjoy a healthy dose of French, 'Nouvelle Vague' existentialism on a rainy Sunday afternoon? Well, I must confess I was initially a little apprehensive about 'Vivre sa Vie', a twelve tableaux, New Wave film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Not that I haven't immensely enjoyed many of his other works but the write up on the DVD made it sound far more inaccessible and 'out there' than it actually was. The use of tableaux helped tremendously with the flow and understanding and gave the movie the effect of being more like a play whilst providing a direct view into the mind's eye of the filmmaker.

Vivre sa Vie is certainly less plot driven than character driven - but what do you expect? This is French New Wave people! Essentially one becomes immersed in the life and lifestyle, thoughts, feelings and attitudes of Nana Kleinfrankenheim (played excellently by Anna Karina); a young woman who has left an unhappy marriage, and her child, and is seeking more in life. Apparently Godard specifically chose Karina for his main character believing her lack of acting experience would contribute to her natural 'awkwardness; it did, and very effectively too. Nana is dissatisfied with her lot and aspires to become an actress as she works, with extreme indifference, in a low paid sales position. She finds herself without enough money to make ends meet and that is where her descent into a seedier, harder life begins. Throughout the movie, Nana's personality vacillates wildly between apathy, coquettishness, genuine sadness, sultriness, sheer awkwardness and hard-nosed conviction. I particularly enjoyed the tableaux where she meets an older man in a café and they start a conversation which leads to philosophical enquiry. Although Nana has no knowledge of the subject, her enquiries and questions lead to her philosophizing, albeit for a brief period of time. This is one of the rare scenes where Nana becomes genuinely animated and exuberant and one sees that she is truly an innocent, whose various 'masks' are just that; a way of appearing that she has her life together, knows what she's doing and doesn't care about the consequences.

The cinematography and atmosphere of sa Vie is beautiful, brooding and captivating; some scenes consisting solely of the back of peoples' heads, their reflections in mirrors and their thoughts only spoken in their heads. If you fancy stepping back in time to 1960s Paris, where everyone is impeccably chic all the time, where people seemingly inhale more smoke than oxygen and where one can revel in a fiesta of ennui, seediness, desperation, innocence and stark realism - then you are going to love this movie!

MY LIFE TO LIVE a precursor to PULP FICTION

[edcar47 · 10/10 · 18 January 2007]

I found this movie by accident at my Goodwill store and bought it because it looked like an interesting example of 1960s experimental French cinema of which I am not too familiar. When I started watching I liked the stark black and white simplicity of the film and long before it ended I realized how similar this movie was to PULP FICTION. The girl, Nana, was simply exquisite and similar to Uma Thurman in many ways. I won't go into all the ways this movie is similar to PULP but the thing I noticed right away was how the movie opened with the male and female at the restaurant counter with their backs to the camera. They are talking about breaking up - Vincent and Mia were meeting for the first time. In sum, Tarentino must have seen this movie and used it for many of his ideas.

Godard the innovator

[jackosurfing14 · 8/10 · 10 August 2012]

We, as a modern day audience become overtly excited for blockbuster films. With the use of modern day sources such as the internet, it seems embedded in our culture to give films such hype, whether it be action, comedy or romance, blockbuster films have become the only form of cinema for the mass audience to look forward to. The cinema culture is surrounded by remakes, sequels and prequels mostly motivated from one reason, money and most blockbuster that we see, par some, are underwhelming, due to the fact that these films consist of following generic conventions to just please the modern audience. Imagine if Godard films were the true excitement, imagine if the mass audience lined up to be overtly excited for a Godard film, they would most likely be treated to a highly stimulating and innovative experience. 'Vivre Sa Vie' is a film that highlights audacious filmmaking in every sense. A film that is willing to break the barriers of the cinematic universe. 'Vivre sa vie' can only be described as Purely authentic.

The story is divided into 12 episodes of a woman life, Nana, and follows her descent into prostitution.

The opening minutes introduces the film's protagonist Nana through three separate shots, portraying her face from the left, right and front. From this opening sequence, we gain a sense of awareness to Godard's innovation, presenting a simple presence that embodies a complexity of emotion, and we hope the music will in some way convey a sense of emotion, however the music abruptly seizes before we form a connection, maybe Godard is simple telling the audience to let go.

The first episode consist of Nana wanting to breakup with her lover. They engage in a simple conversation, however the way Godard presents the conversation is simply audacious and astonishing. Firstly the characters are facing backwards to the camera, they talk to each other while not in the same frame and they only exist in their individual frame. This scene, as i said, is extremely audacious, as Godard breaks the rules of cinematic discourse, while brilliantly conveying the stages of their relationship, as the separate frames highlights the loss of connection and their love only exist through the reflection of a mirror. It is most definitely one of my favourite scenes of all time.

Through the next episode, we see Nana at her work, i presume. The episode is short and simple, however the camera movements are once again brilliant, as the camera sweeps through the store continuously following Nana, it's as if the film is conscious of itself being a film. Furthermore, at the end of the episode the camera moves from Nana position to a view of the street that consist of no characters, it is simply a view, while a character speaks "You attach to much importance to logic". Superb.

As the story unfolds we see Nana become more subordinate to men, as the homage to 'the passion of Joan of arc' and the disturbing 'first man', it seems inevitably of Nana descent into prostitution. As Nana is talking to her pimp, the camera moves once again to present two faceless faces, both in line with each other. The camera slowly pans left and right to reveal Nana reaction to the pimp. Once again the camera takes on a life of it's own, only concerned with the emotions of Nana rather than other characters. Furthermore, the simply vision of Godard to establish a shot like this, and the blocking of people is amazing to watch.

Through this review i have simply interpret 'Vivre sa vie' as purely subjective, my interpretations could be completely wrong or right, but it doesn't matter, because that's the beauty of this film, it's beautifully ambiguous, it offers multiple subjective views, and the innovation is amazingly authentic. For the audience that appreciate the cinematic boundaries Godard has created, you cannot miss this.

Interesting new wave film, but a bit bleak

[gbill-74877 · 7/10 · 4 August 2018]

There is a bleakness to this movie, which has a pretty and thoughtful young woman (Anna Karina), living in beautiful Paris, and yet descending into prostitution following a break-up. Director Jean-Luc Godard gives us twelve vignettes that are intentionally simple and unassuming to paint the picture. It's worth seeing, but at least for me, there are better French New Wave pictures, and certainly less depressing ones.

Anna Karina is lovely but I don't think she delivered a lot of range in this performance. One major exception early on in her new job is when she desperately tries to avoid a customer's kiss on the mouth. The look in her eyes as she squirms around is heart-rending, and disabuses us of any ooh-la-la fantasies we may have about her in this role. Another nice scene is when she dances to a jukebox song with awkward cuteness, trying to entice the few men watching her.

To his credit, Godard is unflinching in his honesty, and there is no sentimentality here. I loved the thoughtful scenes, the one where she's in the theater watching the 1928 Carl Theodor Dreyer film 'The Passion of Joan of Arc', and then later picking an older man's brain about philosophy in a café. The street scenes in Paris were nice to see, though sometimes the film comes close to descending into a home movie project.

Godard was making a point about the realities of life, and employing new filmmaking techniques while telling the story. It doesn't always make for great entertainment though, such as the section that's almost a mini-documentary on prostitution in Paris at the time. The ending is also ridiculously abrupt; it is a grand statement but to me borders on pretentiousness. Is it over-compensating for not showing some of the more painful aspects of prostitution along the way? (STD's, being beaten up, being degraded, etc?). Until then, with the exception of the attempted kiss scene, the 'insight' we get is mostly just a beautiful model being bored by her tricks. From Godard, I much preferred 'Masculin Feminin' (1966), so if you're new to him, I would start there instead. You may also try the Truffaut film we see on the marquee of a theater towards the end, 'Jules and Jim' (1962), which was a nice little tip of the cap to his fellow director.

a masterpiece

[algonpedro · 10/10 · 2 May 2002]

It talks about feelings and people, how short life is, and how people kill people as if they were shooting dishes. this film is a long way from classical movies in the visual aspect ( that's nouvelle vague), the director frames totally outside of the classical way,filming people backwards in conversations in bars, with the character below of the frame, or simply in the middle. All of this with sudden camera movements. This could desparate any viewer, who has only seen todays pictures (american films the most), they would say what a s**t!, but they don't have the fault, they haven't the chance of being teached about filmmaking. Advertising in this world influencies most of people, and the films that are advertised today are mostly a s**t (99%), but the massmedia puts the advertisement anytime, any channel, and you are almost forced to view the "film", because they put it easy for you, the best cinemas puts it in the best room, with the bigger screen, and people swallow it completely and then says: "is amusing", but they don't think about they have losen an hour and half or more. I love this kind of cinema (vivre sa vie), because it tells you the raw reality without masks, and doesn't lie you with the same old shit that rots cinema, with scriptbuilders that think little the stories and let producers change their plans, so there are millions and millions of dollars inverted in visual effects that don't tell anything, characters completely senseless, and definitely a script with thousands of holes. Vivre Sa Vie, doesn't lie you, tells you that you are watching a movie, and that the person who is filming is a person like you. Tells you the filmmaking is something universal, and that with only a few money and much of imagination you can reach very far. Sorry for the sermon. But that's the cruel trueth

Good Ideas, Not the Greatest Execution

[robsta23 · 7/10 · 21 March 2015]

"Vivre Sa Vie," translated roughly as "My Life to Live" follows a woman who slowly descends from being in a relationship to becoming a prostitute in order to get by. Such subject matter was, for the most part, not touched by Hollywood at the time of its release since it was very edgy and uncomfortable, and God forbid that Hollywood's audiences get uncomfortable when watching a film. But this wasn't Hollywood; this is part of the French New Wave.

The film is told in 12 episodic tales which have titles and their own sections of the tale, such as certain Tarantino films including Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, and Inglourious Basterds. For me, 12 seemed a little much, and it felt like it could have been done with a few of the episodes left out. I am not complaining about the length, it is still relatively a short movie, but I think I remember one or two episodes that were too short to be considered their own episodes in my opinion.

I think it is great for Godard to work with such subject matter; the only "explicit" film I remember seeing from around this era was "Persona" by Bergman, and I was shocked at the language they used - I thought people were only that vulgar in movies towards the end of the 60s and onwards. However, there are shots that seem uninteresting, including the final shot of the film, and the final scene in general makes the film end on a very abrupt note.

This is a good character study which has darker material than the mise-en-scene/lighting/tone of the film. I would have liked to see this darkness portrayed in the visuals, but this is still a good film.

Godard's character study is one of his strongest films... and one of the most moving films period

[crculver · 9/10 · 8 March 2014]

VIVRE SA VIE was Jean-Luc Godard's fourth feature film. The protagonist Nana (Anna Karina) is a young Parisian woman who is not especially bright, but full of life and endowed with great beauty. Unable to make ends meet by working at a record shop, and unable to break into films as she dreams, she starts to work as a prostitute. Postwar French law permitted prostitution, with certain rules and regulations that the film explains in a documentary-like segment. Nana, who yearns to live her life according to her own desires, initially thinks that this new profession has set her free from cares. In fact, Nana's liberation from penury through prostitution only subjects her to new constraints imposed by her pimp and clientèle. The film, divided into twelve tableaux with fade-to-black transitions that quicken as it goes on (which one commentator compares to breathing faster and faster) brings us to one of the most shocking endings I have ever seen.

This is a superlative film. Clocking in at 85 minutes, it lasts exactly as long as its story demands, with not a single moment that feels superfluous. Everything fits together, perfectly even things that ought to seem extraneous, the overindulgence of the auteur. Early in the film Nana goes to see Carl Dreyer's 1928 silent film "La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc", and this is not a mere gratuitous tribute to earlier cinema as is common in French New Wave films. Nana speaks with an elderly philosopher in a café, who is in fact the real-life philosopher Brice Parain whose dialogue here consists of his own writings, and yet this is not shallow intellectualism. Rather, these scenes increase the three-dimensionality of Nana as a character: not very intelligent and with negligible education, an easy woman since long before the film begins, but feeling strongly that there must be more out there.

The believability of Nana as a character is increased all the more by Anna Karina's masterful performance. When coming to Godard's films, after the filmmaker has taken a beating from some circles, one might think that Karina was simply a beauty with no especial talent that enchanted the director due to her looks and foreign origin. Nope, the Danish actress here presents a completely believable Parisian airhead who is so easily moved by sentimental art.

Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live)

[jboothmillard · 7/10 · 26 February 2016]

I found this French film in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I wouldn't have known about it without being entered in the book, and I didn't know what to expect, but I hoped it would be worth it, directed by Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless, Alphaville, Pierrot Le Fou). Basically the story is told as twelve brief unconnected episodes, exploring the life of young beautiful Parisian woman Nana Kleinfrankenheim (Anna Karina). Nana is in her early twenties, she leaves her husband and infant son to try and achieve her ambition to become an actress, however without money she is forced to become a shop girl. Unable to enter acting, Nana slowly descends into the world of prostitution, in order to earn better money, she soon gets herself a pimp, Raoul (Sady Rebbot). He later, at an unspecified time, sells her to another pimp, during the exchange an argument breaks out between the pimps, Nana is caught between the crossfire and killed by gunshot. Also starring André S. Labarthe as Paul, Guylaine Schlumberger as Yvette, Gérard Hoffman as Cook, Monique Messine as Elisabeth, Paul Pavel as Journalist and Brice Parain as Philosopher, with voice narration from Jean-Luc Godard. Karina, also the director's wife at the time, gives a marvellous performance as the tragic unconventional heroine, the film is all unconventional, it is part of the New Wave, this was one of the first major films to have sex earning money, so it gained notoriety, there is the gangster element, it has good techniques of camera angles, and it is stylish in black and white, all together it is a most worthwhile drama. Very good!

Probably rewarding for cinema students; severly lacking as an insightful portrayal of prostitution

[rebfarl · 3/10 · 23 September 2023]

I came here looking for more well-handled, touching portrayals of prostitution. Breaking the Waves is my favourite film in this regard. What I experienced in this film was a total lack of emotion, which of course can sometimes be very effective, but here it just felt - limp and boring. The most emotion portrayed is by the guy clowning around pretending to blow up a balloon, who has screen time for like, one minute. All the other characters are just so dull. To me there is no 'descent' tracked emotionally... nothing to connect us with her internal world or how she is impacted by the changes in her life. It¨s just so bland. There's a fair amount of philosophical discussions, and I can enjoy that greatly in a film, but even these feel bland; the characters themsevles don't seem to feel engaged or riveted by what they're discussing. It's all just a bit cool and off-hand.

The camera work is great, I loved the shots just seeing the backs of the protagonists' heads... but there is next to nothing gripping or touching about this film. Comme ci comme ca. I get that this film was boundary-breaking in it's time in terms of cinema making, but that's not what drew me here. Reading the positive reviews I am reminded of standing in an art gallery looking at an over-priced dot mark on a page, surrounded by 'oohs' and 'ahhs'. For me this was just a disappointment. So, if you're here because you are studying the art or history of cinema, you're gonna appreciate some aspects. If you're here for an insightful portrayal of what it means to be a woman in the world of prostitution, I'm not convinced you'll find anything here.

One star for the pacing, one for the art of the camera work, and the last plus point for me is that there isn't any storyline-irrelevant, objectifying sexualisation directed towards the spectator's gaze. At least someone got that right, and in the sixties too. For that I tip my hat.