Vivre Sa Vie (1962)

9 out of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Ennui in Black and White

A Customer from Carpenders Park, England, 22nd May, 2006

Of the French New Wave pioneers Jean Luc Godard was frequently the most annoying talent, much colder than Truffaut and considerably less witty than Chabrol. 'Vivre Sa Vie' is one of his coldest, a documentary-style look at a Parisian prostitute-by-default, played by Danish actress Anna Karina at her most 60s-iconic. Divided into 12 chapters, the film is a series of vignettes in which dull people have remarkably inconsequential conversations during which we learn little of interest other than details of the pragmatic attitude of the French state towards prostitution. There is no real story, just fragments, and in truth the film would be as dull as ditchwater were it not for Raoul Coutard's utterly gorgeous black and white cinematography. He can quite literally make the back of someone's head--held in shot for a minute or more by a director who believed himself to be such an artist that the most tedious devices would be taken seriously--look unexpectedly beautiful. 'Vivre Sa Vie' remains one of Godard's visually elegant Rorschac blots, meaningless in itself but an invitation for the susceptible audience to read meaning into it. Many did in the 60s...fewer are likely to today.

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5 out of 6 people found the following review helpful:

Must See New Wave

Grizzlybear from Swindon, England, 6th December, 2005

For me not quite up their with Godard's seminal masterpiece 'Breathless' (1959) but still visually superb. Godard concentrates the camera quite unashamedly at his new wife Anna Karina throughout the film and she does not disappoint.The film tells the story of a former shopgirl who turns to prostitution when money gets tight. But one gets the feeling that money is not the only reason for her choice as Godard lingers long on her writing a job application in the cafe which will never be sent. One gets the sense that she is looking for excitement and freedom that conventional work cannot provide despite the personal and moral consequences. The real story though is how she maintains her spiritual integrity within the immoral world she inhabits (Goddard even likens her to French heroine Joan of Arc). However in the film's ending perhaps Godard is trying to convey that no matter what the purity of one's intentions, trying to inhabit 'moral' and 'immoral' worlds at the same time is ultimately doomed to failure.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Dissapointed

A Customer from london, 9th July, 2008

The DVD that I was sent didn't seem to have any options for subtitles and despite my French A Level I wasn't quite up to it.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:

so what

johnnieh from , 5th August, 2008

Couldn't be bothered to watch to the end. She wants to be an actress she needs money she goes with men boring boring boring.

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Vivra sa Vie

A Customer from Hereford, 23rd August, 2008

Thoughtfully told tale, well contructed and character development very fair. Worth seeing.

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Customer Review

A Customer from UK, 23rd June, 2008

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.

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