Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux (1962)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Jean-Luc Godard

Writers:

Marcel Sacotte (book)
Jean-Luc Godard (story)

Release Date:

20 September 1962 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

This film explores a Parisian woman's descent into prostitution. The movie is comprised of a series...

Plot Keywords:

Prostitution | France | Cinema | Pool Table | Paris

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Anna Karina	...	Nana Kleinfrankenheim
Sady Rebbot	...	Raoul (as Saddy Rebbot)
André S. Labarthe	...	Paul
Guylaine Schlumberger	...	Yvette (as G. Schlumberger)
Gérard Hoffman	...	Le chef
Monique Messine	...	Elisabeth
Paul Pavel	...	Journaliste
Dimitri Dineff	...	Dimitri
Peter Kassovitz	...	Le jeune homme
Eric Schlumberger	...	Luigi (as E. Schlumberger)
Brice Parain	...	Le philosophe
Henri Attal	...	Arthur (as Henri Atal)
Gilles Quéant	...	Premier client
Odile Geoffroy	...	La serveuse de café
Marcel Charton	...	L'agent de police

Also Known As:

It's My Life (UK)
My Life to Live (USA)
Vivre sa vie (France) (short title)

Runtime:

80 min | Germany:83 min (restored integral version) | Portugal:83 min | UK:83 min | USA:85 min | West Germany:79 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (original rating) | Finland:K-16 (re-rating) | Australia:M | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | West Germany:18 (w) (nf) | South Korea:18

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Les Films de la Pléiade

Quotes:

Nana: Why must one always talk? Often one shouldn't talk, but live in silence.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Blow Me (2005)

Soundtrack:

Ma môme

Pure like Jimmy Reed

Officially translated as "My Life to Live", but literally (preferably?) "To Live Her Life." Shop girl (Anna Karina) turns to prostitution, but "gives her body to keep her soul." New Wave asceticism. Twelve tableaux, each individually titled. Analytic detachment that still breathes in the moment, true to time, and is one with the world.

Isn't' it sad? Even the purist Pacific Film Archive could find all the original uncut material only in a badly battered 16 mm print. (Wouldn't there be a zillion pristine 35 mm prints available if Julia Roberts or Bruce Willis were in it though?)

The usual Godard potpourri: homage to American gangster flicks (which, in my opinion, only detracts), existentialist digressions, written word headings, a crew of roustabout knockabout outcasts. Even though less than his best, it's far far better than anything above.

Godard opens the aperture to capture the world through his lens in all its flawed beauty and freshness. Karina is gorgeous, spontaneous, alive. The film hardly ever misses the heartbeat of now, present time, with all its rawness and unfolding surprises. The story hardly matters; I could watch Godard depict garbage being collected, anything. There is the feel, the eye, the instinct. Freedom. It's like childhood play, like Jimmy Reed, primitive, honest.