A film about about broken dreams and eventual tragedy, I had high expectations with "Vivre sa vie" being one of Godard's early films ( his 3rd feature to be exact) and I thought he could have done better with this film but it was not really what I had expected. It's a story of Nana (Anna Karina), a struggling young woman in Paris chasing her dreams to become an actress only to drift into prostitution. There are few filmmakers in the history of cinema that had the guts and smarts of Godard and you will have to have all of that to make a film like "Breathless" or a film like "Vivre sa vie".
The story is told by chapters like a book and given each titles giving us a premonition of scenes that will happen or has happened on the film. In this story Nana is played by the gorgeous Anna Karina, she is lost not knowing what she will do with her life. She meets men on bars and public places looking for her next big break, Nana is really more of a lost child than a woman with her bob haircut and cynicism more of a facade hiding her own vulnerability from predators ready to take advantage of girls like her. She risks it all leaving her husband and child for fame and riches that she never have.
Godard is also able to show Paris as a materialistic city giving weight to women like Nana, to simply live in Paris is not enough that is why Nana hustles to make ends meet for herself until she is able to get her big break as an actress. Every time she meets strangers, a man or people she knows show business always comes to her and what she talks about which only heightens frustrates. In a movie theater she watches the silent film "La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc" whom the heroine she easily identifies with.
"Nana identifies with Joan of Arc"
Godard being a cinephile himself was able to cleverly associate Nana's character to Joan of Arc and he was able to get his point across to the audience. He was also able to use American pop culture to bring a certain lightness to the film, like in the scene where a customer was asking for a Judy Garland record or the dance sequence in the billiard hall. Godard was able to mask the grim situation Nana was in, yes she was dancing but her pimp Raoul (Saddy Rebbot) is also talking to another man possibly a client to sell Nana's services. I actually liked the first half of the film but not the abrupt ending, Godard already gave the audience a premonition of Nana's fate with the gangsters in the early scene when they shot a man down but I thought he could have gone deeper with the story. I'm sure the chapters he set was a real breakthrough back then but I thought some parts should have been shown like the 1000 franc she was supposed to have "stepped on" before being questioned by the cops.
Certain scenes should have been included to emphasize more of Nana's struggles and I thought Godard could have omitted other scenes like the philosophical discussion with the old man which confused the hell out of me, I felt Godard sacrificed the depth of the character for the sake of making the story more stylish and narrative. But then again it's just my opinion since other critics do find the film interesting and is considered a classic today. I guess if I would grade the film I would give it a C rating not just because of the abrupt ending but because of the scenes that Godard should and could have shown. Even though the film has it's flaws it doesn't take away Godard's edge in showing the grim life of a prostitute in Paris but I wish he could have done better.
Grade: C
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