My Life to Live Reviews

An early stunner from Jean-Luc Godard and one of the seminal films of the French New Wave. The filmmaker's fourth feature stars his then-wife, Anna Karina, as Nana, a Parisian sales clerk who, after separating from her husband, Paul (Labarthe), tries to make it as an actress. After seeing Dreyer's silent classic THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC, she abandons the idea and turns to prostitution. The film is divided into 12 tableaux, which take place in cafes, in a record store, at a police station, and on the streets of Paris. The scenes and the issues raised range from prostitution (with quoted facts and figures on the subject) to experiments with narration and autobiographical elements (Godard narrating, Karina starring). In Godard's typically dense and provocative style, we also have many allusions to films and literature (Renoir's NANA, Zola's Nana, Truffaut's JULES AND JIM, Dreyer and Falconetti, and Edgar Allen Poe's "The Oval Portrait"), as well as an absorbing discussion on linguistic philosophy with Brice Parain). Through this complex and intriguing network we have an abundance of humor and many uniquely touching vignettes. Karina is considerably more at home in front of the camera than in her earlier films, and Godard has by this point clearly learned how to bring out the very best that's in her. MY LIFE TO LIVE represents an interesting mix of those facets Godard has explored more individually in his earlier films--the genre elements of BREATHLESS, the politics of LE PETIT SOLDAT, and the narrative experimentation of A WOMAN IS A WOMAN. Technically MY LIFE TO LIVE was (and perhaps still is) far ahead of its time, knocking down the traditional walls of sound recording. Godard refused to mix the sound in the studio (except for Michel Legrand's barely used score), instead applying the same rule for sound and image--to capture them directly--and amended his "jump-cut" style of editing by allowing shots to last from six to eight minutes as the camera wandered through the set. MY LIFE TO LIVE also contains one of Godard's greatest and most personal scenes--a reading of Charles Baudelaire's translation of "The Oval Portrait," the story of an artist whose wife dies just as he finishes her portrait. Although Godard does not play Nana's lover in this scene, he does provide the character's voice. As we hear Godard reading Poe's words, we see the face of his wife, Anna Karina as Nana, and realize that, like Poe, Godard is painting a portrait of his wife. The finale is memorable and puts a suitable spin on this early mix of cinematic experimentation and the sociological concerns which would continue to distinguish's this great filmmaker's work as the decade progressed.