013 - Vivre Sa Vie (To Live Her Life), 1962, France; Dir. Jean-Luc Godard.

Friday, January 13, 2017

013 - Vivre Sa Vie  (To Live Her Life), 1962, France.  Dir. Jean-Luc Godard.

Is she a lady or a tramp?

That is the question Raoul asks about Nana.  Raoul is the guy standing by the pinball machine at the bistro.  (The sign says bistro.  They translate it café.)  He is a pimp.  He wants to test Nana to see if she qualifies for employment.

The test is to insult her.  If she gets angry, she is a tramp.  If she smiles, she is a lady.  Raoul approaches Nana at the booth.  He insults her.  She smiles.  She is a lady.

This qualifies her for employment.

Welcome to the French New Wave, or Nouvelle Vague.  Memorize this phrase.

The movement consisted of a group of young film critics who loved cinema and were driven by enthusiasm and new ideals.  Five of them changed jobs, from critic to filmmaker, and made an impact on filmmaking worldwide.

When the New Wave was new, it was exciting.  Directors came out with new movies, and people went to see them.  They talked about them.  Film felt fresh, original, daring.

One of the five men was Jean-Luc Godard.  He was the most experimental, and he is still alive.  His counterparts were Francois Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol, and Jacques Rivette.  A few others joined the group or are considered a part of the French New Wave, but these five constitute the original group.

This film, Vivre Sa Vie, literally means "To Live Her Life."  It was shown in America as "Her Life to Live" or "My Life to Live."  It is about a woman who chooses her life, but those choices take her in a declining direction.  She leaves her husband and child to become an actress.  She talks to men about taking pictures for her.  She struggles to survive.  She cannot pay her rent.  She turns to prostitution.  It does not turn out well for her in the end.

Godard shoots in the style for which he will become known--by placing the camera in unusual  positions, backlighting the actors (placing their faces in shadow), cutting in unusual places, featuring cinema within cinema, and including in-jokes.

Godard divides the film into twelve chapters, which he calls tableaux.  Each begins with a title.  His real-life wife, Anna Karina, plays the aspiring actress Nana Kleinfrankenheim.  (Say that name ten times fast!)  Nana sells records.

Nana sells records!

Remember our first movie, People on Sunday from Germany, 1930.  Brigitte sold records.  Now here in Vivre Sa Vie, from France, 1962, Nana sells records.  Popular culture is important in these films, and music is integral.  At one point a man enters the bistro and starts a record in the jukebox.  In real life he was the man singing the song.  At another point Nana starts a record in a jukebox and dances around a pool table.  The music is exhilarating.  Her dancing is energetic.

Nana also goes to the movies.  She sees The Passion of Joan of Arc, the 1928 film by Carl Theodor Dreyer.  (In a few weeks we will see it too!)  Godard features a beautiful profile shot of a few people sitting in the theater with the light spilling on their faces.  We see Joan of Arc's eyes and her tears, and we hear her voice as she prepares to die.  Is this foreshadowing?

We begin the film by looking at Anna directly as the credits role.  She stares into the camera.  We  see her head-on.  We see her in profile.  Is it a headshot, a model shot, a mug shot, a trick shot?

When the credits finish the story begins, and we watch Nana and her husband in the bistro, from behind, staring at the backs of their heads.  In other conversations throughout the film we will watch people from different angles, including the backs of their heads.

This is a great film for cinema enthusiasts and film school students.  It experiments with the mechanics of filmmaking, as Godard frequently did.

However, it does have its limitations.  If the eyes are the windows of the soul, and we do not see the eyes of the characters, then we are limited as to how much we can see into their souls.

Throughout the film we want to know more about Nana.  What motivates her?  What drives her?  We want to empathize with her, care about her.  But we are given little information.

Why does she leave her husband and child?  Does she really want to be an actress?  How does she feel about this new profession she has chosen?

Where is the character development?

At one point the film turns into a documentary on prostitution.  As Raoul drives her to her new job a voice-over explains the profession with details and specifics.  At another point Nana enters a restaurant and has an intellectual conversation with real-life philosopher.  Next she has a literary conversation about "Edgar Poe" with a man who may be her new boyfriend.  All of these things are academic, in the head.

Where is the heart?

While Godard's mechanics seemed fresh and daring in 1962, they serve as a distraction today.  A gimmick.

The goal is to create fully developed characters and to tell great stories.

Jean-Luc Godard is an important filmmaker, but this film is not for everyone.