Vivre sa vie "My Life to Live" (1962, Jean-Luc Godard)

"One cannot distinguish the thought from the words that express it."

Jean-Luc Godard. Just the name Godard and the word Cinema are synonymous. Godard doesn't simply make films, he creates art in the film medium, and together with François Truffaut, helped mold what is now known as the French New Wave of Cinema and arguably begun the trend of the film geek.

Their love and passion for film has influenced an astounding amount of film directors like Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese and most notably the great Quentin Tarantino (who's film company 'A Band Apart' was named after one of Godard's films).

The story of Vivre Sa Vie revolves around Nana played by Anna Karina (Godard’s muse and wife '61-'67) where in the famous opening scene, is in a café with her husband, telling him she is leaving him for another man, and they are not even facing each other. In-fact we do not even see their faces but their backs.

With her independence now re-gained, Nana yearns to be an actress and is now constantly seen wondering the streets of modern Paris, inhabiting the bars and pool halls whilst chasing numerous men or even dancing to them at a jukebox. And then of course there is her down spiral into the prostitution world which eventually leads her to being owned by numerous pimps.



Yet is seems as if she wants to appear that she has a hard shell, but we get a glimpse of her sensitiveness when see goes to the cinema (with a guy but then ditches him) to watch Carl Theodor Dreyer's masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc and breaks into tears.

This however is a hinting towards her doom, being that in that very scene where Nana weeps, Joan of Arc states that her deliverance is in her death, and yet another hint to her doom is Nana's haircut, which is somewhat identical to that of Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box who also met her doom.


Anna Karina's profile in this film is like that of a fascinating beautiful cover of a book and we are constantly trying to read it throughout the film. The directing in this film is flawless, from the opening scene in the cafe, were are hooked and are itching to see Nana's face. It's tremendously innovative in style and technique to say the least with gorgeous cinematography by Raoul Coutard and the film is even told in the form of 12 sections... kind of like a Tarantino film.

As soon as I had watched this film, I couldn't stop thinking about it and I wanted to talk to people about it, which is what happens every time I watch a Godard film. This is the sign of a great artist.

Click here for the trailer

Rating: A

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