Users

Now Playing

FA Rankings

All Rankings
N
Top 1000 FA

Sections

TV Series

TOPs

Awards | Festivals

Information

Click here to copy URL

Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live)

7.7

7,513

Ratings

Add to lists

where to watch

flatrate

free

Pro reviews

1 Related Movies

Related to:

Bande-annonce de 'Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux' (S)

Original title

Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableauxaka

AKA

Vivre sa vie
My Life to Live

Year

1962

Running time

83 min.

Country

France

Director

Jean-Luc Godard

Screenwriter

Jean-Luc Godard

Music

Michel Legrand

Cinematography

Raoul Coutard (B&W)

Cast

Anna Karina, Sady Rebbot, André S. Labarthe, Guylaine Schlumberger, Gérard Hoffman, Monique Messine

Producer

Les Films de la Pléiade, Pathé Consortium Cinéma (P.A.C.)

Genre

Drama | Nouvelle vague (New Wave). Prostitution. Experimental Cinema. Cult Movie

Synopsis

Nana (Anna Karina) is a beautiful Parisian in her early twenties who deliberately leaves her husband and her infant son hoping to become an actress. Without money, beyond what she earns as a shopgirl, and unable to enter acting, she elects to earn better money as a prostitute. Soon she has a pimp, Raoul, who regularises her work. Nana's life is told in 12 brief episodes each preceded by a written resume. Godard introduces other idiosyncrasies to focus the viewer's attention.

Rankings Position

#23 Best French Movies of all time

Awards: 1962: Venice Film Festival: Jury Special Prize, Pasinetti Award

Critics' reviews

"Within five minutes I am so fascinated that I do not move, I do not stir, until it is over. This is a great movie (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"

Roger Ebert: rogerebert.com
"The girl, played by Anna Karina (...) never emerges as much more than an amiable, stupid, helpless thing (...) Godard is a bold experimenter, but it's time he picked himself a stronger theme."

Bosley Crowther: The New York Times
"[It] isn't the most stimulating of Godard's early work, but it does show him beginning to pull away from traditional cutting patterns and sequence arrangement."

Dave Kehr: Chicago Reader
"If Jean-Luc Godard only made this one film, it would be enough to put him in the cinematic pantheon. This is one of the all-time great films"

Mick LaSalle: SFGATE
"As usual for this period in Godard’s career, his restless confidence in the language of movies, a language he helped redefine on the fly, smoothes out the patchwork texture."

Keith Phipps: AV Club
"Forty-six years later, the brute genius of Jean-Luc Godard continues to amaze (...) A dazzling cinematic experiment and a heart-mover (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"

Steven Rea: Philadelphia Inquirer
"I could watch Anna Karina compose a letter for hours (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"

Eric Henderson: Slant
Show 3 more reviews

Movie Soulmates' ratings: Register so you can access movie recommendations tailored to your movie taste.
Friends' ratings: Register so you can check out ratings by your friends, family members, and like-minded members of the FA community.

Ranking Lists Position

34 My Favorite French Movies (75)

Is the synopsis/plot summary missing? Do you want to report a spoiler, error or omission? Please send us a message.
If you are not a registered user please send us an email to info@filmaffinity.com

All copyrighted material (movie posters, DVD covers, stills, trailers) and trademarks belong to their respective producers and/or distributors.

For US ratings information please visit: www.mpaa.org www.filmratings.com www.parentalguide.org

Nouvelle Vague (New Wave)

1990

Jean-Luc Godard

6.4
(290)
King Lear

1987

Jean-Luc Godard

5.2
(265)
La Chinoise

1967

Jean-Luc Godard

7.0
(2,800)
Johnny Guitar

1954

Nicholas Ray

7.8
(13,403)