Vivre sa vie (1962)

Jean-Luc Godard’s fourth feature – his third with wife and muse Anna Karina – charts in 12 tableaux a would-be actress’s descent into prostitution.

Jean-Luc Godard cast his then wife Anna Karina as Nana, a shopgirl turned prostitute, in the third of their seven features together. Marking the high point of their collaboration – and their short-lived marriage – the film is a paean to the actress’s beauty, linking her to silent-era stars Louise Brooks (whose distinctive bobbed hair she shares here) and Maria Falconetti, whose performance in Carl Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) is watched by a tearful Nana in one of the most striking sequences.

Shot in black and white by Raoul Coutard, the film features one of the great cinematographer’s most celebrated shots, showing Nana and a customer in the record store where she works, before the camera turns to look out of the window.

1962 France
Directed by
Jean-Luc Godard
Produced by
Pierre Braunberger
Written by
Jean-Luc Godard
Featuring
Anna Karina, Sady Rebbot, André S. Labarthe
Running time
85 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for Vivre sa vie

Critics

Philippe Azoury
France
Janet Baris
Turkey
Mark Cosgrove
UK
Bruce Hodsdon
Australia
Nachman Ingber
Israel
Christian Keathley
USA
Esin Küçüktepepınar
Turkey
Ewa Mazierska
Poland/UK
Óscar Oliva
Spain
Grazia Paganelli
Italy
Jacob Perlin
USA
Agnes Petho
Hungary/Romania
Ángel Quintana Morraja
Spain
James Schamus
USA
Ariel Schweitzer
France/Israel
Malena Solarz
Argentina
Eduardo Stupía
Argentina
Wim Vanacker
Belgium

Directors

Wes Anderson
USA
Michel Franco
Mexico
Gonzalo García-Pelayo
Spain
Pat Murphy
Ireland
Farid Rodríguez Rivero
Peru
Béla Tarr
Hungary

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