Vivre Sa Vie

Vivre sa vie (1962) is divided into twelve parts. Nana leaves her husband and child wanting to act, works in a record shop, cannot pay her rent, and starts working as a prostitute. Each part opens with a caption saying what is about to happen, so the film removes surprise at the outset. Godard built the structure in panels deliberately. There are no transitions between them, and the camera often sits behind Nana; there are long takes in which we never see her face. Its best known scene is in a cinema. Nana watches Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc, and Falconetti's weeping face is cut against her own. Godard places two women in the same frame across four centuries and thirty five years. In another part Nana talks in a café with the philosopher Brice Parain. Parain was a real philosopher playing himself, and the conversation is not scripted; it is an actual discussion about language and thought. Anna Karina plays Nana. She and Godard were married, and this is among the most cited of the films they made together. It won the Special Jury Prize at Venice. It runs 84 minutes. Good for: the New Wave, formal experiment, and Anna Karina. Less good for: the film treats prostitution with documentary coldness and gives no emotional way in. The chapter headings deliberately destroy suspense. The philosophical conversation is long and stops the narrative.