Vivre sa Vie (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

A fan of Godard's work, I had seen excerpts and the trailer on YouTube, which finally impelled me to buy this Blu-Ray disc. I love this film on many levels.Primarily, I wanted to see the Paris of 1962 again, the Paris of my first visit as a child, to smell the Gitanes and Gauloises, to see the people, the cafés, the streets; the true Paris before it became an imitation of itself. I still love Paris, and am conscious of some of the less positive changes, but choose to ignore them (as much as possible). I mention this because Paris is very much a character in the film and is the page upon which the story has been written. People who knew Paris in earlier years will especially appreciate it. There is even a great shot of people standing in line for Truffaut's "Jules et Jim". Shots like that give it somewhat a documentary feel, of being there in the present; and also it is somewhat of a time capsule of life in that time and place.Secondly, I of course love Anna Karina who is incredibly beautiful and has such a lovely inner quality, plus her Danish accent drives French guys like me crazy (lol). But when you see the filmed interview that comes with the disc, you will see how different she is in "real life" and appreciate even more her work as an actress, even if the character of Nana was a co-creation with Godard. I wanted to see her in this film also because she was not yet really a big star, and I find there is less self-awareness in performance in the early part of a career, which is more interesting to watch.Thirdly, I love the way Godard explores new ways of telling a story on film. This was the type of film-making that inspired me in film school, and there are so many lessons one can learn from him. I find watching his work really can open up one's mind, inspire creativity, and help one think outside the box. So many films today seem very packaged and formulaic, so Godard for me is particularly refreshing. Only 83 minutes long, this film seems to have more in it than some major epics.The opening of the film looks a bit grainy, perhaps because of the low light exposure, and I wondered if the blu-ray made an appreciable difference in definition, but as the film continued I saw that the blu-ray does add to the clarity and was worth getting.The story itself is tragic, so be prepared for that, even if there are some wonderful lighter moments. One's heart breaks for all the Nana's who have met the same fate, but even so, Nana takes full responsibility for her actions. Godard asserts that she was able to "keep her soul", but I doubt this is often true in real life. In any case, it is refreshing to see a film from a time when one could have a 10-minute philosophical discussion on film, which I think would not really even be possible in France today. Don't expect to be titillated though, and I greatly admire Godard for this, especially with the subject matter. Today everything would unfortunately have to be very graphic, but Nana never is shown in more than the beginning stages of undress or finishing dressing. There are a few nudes in one scene, but each is more like a brief "still life". As a result, the sordidness of the "profession" becomes very real and believable, and for me it is proof that in film too, less is more.There are a few nice extras, such as the interviews with Karina, and film prof Jean Narboni. And there is an interesting documentary about prostitution in Paris at that time, including an interview with the author of the work upon which the film is based. I would have liked to have an interview with Godard from the period, but it is not on this disc. The film however is itself very telling about Godard and his feelings about filming Karina, his wife at that time; feelings he expresses in a voice-over reading of the "Oval Portrait" by Poe, a story of an artist and his muse. "Vivre Sa Vie" is very much such a story.

In the character of Nana Anna Karina explores Godard's thoughts and feelings about art, and how open-ended this precious gift is, in terms of articulation, whether through acting (Anna Karina), writing as Poe does, or Plato, or Hegel or Nietzsche. Godard does not define, or create a film as a lesson on life's hazards, filled moral prescriptions , antidotes, hand-me-down phrases that only bring one closer to life, to Nature that is mortal and very destructive. (Witness te close of the film.)Nietzsche says that art is not an imitation of nature at all, but is rather a metaphysical supplement, raised along side Nature only to overcome Nature. I agree. And Godard seems to be on this wavelength, but would never reveal it. Closeness to the world in art is not art for Godard. Distancing, almost barricading the self from the world in order to come towards it with assurance and strength represents the artistic nature overagainst the non-artistic mundane, so-called real world.Nana tries to transcend a Paris that is unkind to her, manipulative, and very dangerous. She does in a way overcome, retreat from the closeness to the world as a prostitute. But this life is too insistent on ignorance, irrationality, sickness, and death to be liberating. Nana hasn't the strength to be the actress she desires to be, could be. She is too close to oblivion, the way art can be threatened by oblivion, as Godard shows as he explores the relation between being driven by matter, things, people and their bad faith, and driving against the forces that threaten to obliterate the mind and its memories.Beautifully acted, Vivre Sa Vie is a major benchmark in the history of cinema..indeed art.

Innovative film for its day with regards to rhythm of editing. A couple of cool shots like the stuttering pan shot in the bar/gun scene.Here's the deal, I've watched a lot of Godard's films recently, as I hadn't viewed them for a long time and I remembered them being cool. I watched Breathless, A Band Apart, Contempt and Vivre Sa Vie in the past week and if It wasn't for Contempt I would have to consider the notion that Godard the man is just another chauvinist Frenchmen. I thought Vivre Sa Vie was an opportunity to empower the lead character played by Karina. But she was, yet again, directed to play a pretty flower to be groped by French men. At first I thought Godard was making a statement. But one after another of his films from this era feels unconsciously misogynistic. Its easy to say his films are cool. But are they? Only Contempt explored the notion that women just might be on the receiving end of a raw deal, particularly in France. (Sorry France, but you've got a crap reputation when it comes to sexism...it ain't the 70s anymore President Hollande and Gaston Strauss-Kahn...)Of course, one has to remember the time and place when a piece of art or film is produced, but the true mark of great art is its timelessness. I find a lot of Godard's films just aren't so cool 50 years later. If the men in his films were cool back then, they feel a bit foolish now. A lot of his early films have pale slippery men who look a bit like toads, aggressively groping and bullying women against walls and in closets. (I lived in Paris for 6 months and heard countless stories about men exposing themselves to women on the metro - in fact caught a guy shaking hands with his little friend in front of a friend of mine in a crowded train.) Hell, even the lanky Belmondo looks a bit of a goof mugging and gawking around in Breathless. The women, by contrast, would still seem cool if they weren't directed to be pretty little things who are captive creatures to male salaciousness. I know people think Godard flicks are cool, but I'm just not sure about that anymore. I find the lead male characters a bit embarrassing, frankly.I know, I suck. But go watch Antonioni if you want Euro cool films from the past that explore modern themes like alienation and still hold up today. Just saying...

Beautiful crisp transfer.

The subject of the film is mentioned in this review, so please be aware that this could be a spoiler for anyone who doesn’t know what the film is about.Forty-odd years ago when I first discovered foreign (and probably more often than not, French) films that were occasionally shown late at night on the telly, I soon realised that I was watching cinema that was noticeably “different”, and not just because the actors spoke in a language that I didn’t. I also noticed that what was shown on the telly was often the best of foreign cinema (however one measures such subjective art). Watching “Vivre Sa Vie” reminded me of how good it was to discover those amazing “best-of” foreign films that were (often) from another era and from another country (and especially somewhere other than Hollywood USA).Made five-and-a-half decades ago, “Vivre Sa Vie” is in some respects, an historical film, as it shows life in Paris in the early Sixties, for example where some scenes had been shot in bars and when building, cars and people are shown as life went on for the people of the city, and it is educational in that way that cinema sometimes can be, and also educational in what it tells one about attitudes regarding prostitution at that time in France or at least in its Capital.Education aside though, I found “Vivre Sa Vie” to be very entertaining. From the very first scene where the actors have been filmed from an unconventional angle, its “different-ness” is one of the things that made it so entertaining. Though a fictional story, the narrative gives us that story in such a way that the film has a documentary edge to it. The black and white photography works brilliantly adding to the enjoyment, and in a way that colour film might not have been as good. As well as the stylised directing and filming, editing is also great and it goes, almost without saying (in a film that I enjoyed so much) that I found the acting to be great as well. Great music also – there is a beautiful piece of music by Michel Legrand that is played at times throughout the film which is a delight to listen to, but also other music coming out of Juke Box’s in Bars (one record being put on by the singer of the song!).The DVD that I watched of “Vivre Sa Vie” had been digitally re-mastered from a restored print and I must say that the picture quality was really great, this was far from any scratched and corrupted old bit of film that had been used and it must have been as good (better even?) than audiences would have seen in the cinema in the early ‘60’s.The DVD also came with a 60-page booklet “Key Scenes and Dialogue – Jean-Luc Godard”.On the DVD you get:“Vivre Sa Vie” (1 hour 20 minutes)Scene SelectionGallery

One of the things that strike you after seeing this wonderful movie is how much the world of cinema has changed since the early 1960's and the French New Wave - and not necessarily changed for the better. The grainy, jumpy, stark and no-nonsense filming and editing tell a story which is touching, tender and tough by turns, and, finally, brutally frank. The approach underlines the drama of the story perfectly.Likewise the shots of Paris streets, often seen through cafe windows or reflected in the chrome of expresso machines, offer an historical record of a time and place that has changed almost beyond recall.A great movie.

There isn't much to say about this that hasn't been said a thousand times before. It's a classic, both beautiful and brutal. Godard is on top form, and Anna Karina is magisterial. I can't imagine any lover of cinema who won't find it unforgettable.

Godard is not up there with Truffaut and this film drags a bit. There is only a limited enjoyment of looking at the face of Anna Karina for so much of the time, lovely though she is.

Excellent quality