Vivre Sa Vie, Blu-ray (1962/2010)
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Starring: Anna Karina
Studio: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection 512 [4/20/10]
Video: 1.33:1 B&W
Audio: French PCM mono
Subtitles: English
Extras: Audio Commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin, Video interview with film scholar Jean Harboni, TV interview (1962) with Anna Karina, Excerpts from 1961 French TV exposé on prostitution, Illustrated essay on the book that served as inspiration for the film, Stills gallery, Original theatrical trailer, New improved English subtitles, Printed booklet of Godard’s original scenario, essay by critic Michael Atkinson, Interviews with Goddard, Critic Jean Collet on the film’s soundtrack
Length: 83 minutes
Rating: ***½
This tragic character study, featuring Goddard’s greatest muse – his wife Anna Karina – is supposed to be one of his most brilliant films, but frankly I found it depressing and frustrating due to Goddard’s negation of many of the accepted norms of filmmaking. For example there are many shots only of the backs of people conversing, or long shots of two people conversing at a bistro table but shot from behind the second person, with their head completely obscuring the other person. One of the few light high points of the film is supposed to be Anna’s pool hall dance to the jukebox, but it seemed to me forced and very staged – nothing like the delightful “Madison” dance to the jukebox tune by Anna and her two boyfriends in Band of Outsiders.
Anna plays a young Parisienne working in a record shop and not making even enough money to pay her rent. She has been in a couple plays and one movie and hopes to make it as an actress, but gets nowhere and slowly falls into being a prostitute and coming to a stagey, very bad end. In one long scene when she is barred from getting into her apartment she goes to a movie theater showing Dryer’s Joan of Arc. Goddard seems to be years ahead of the Dogma School in having no post-production sound but using only the sound picked by while the camera is running, even if dialog is difficult to hear. And some portions have no audio whatever. Admittedly, Anna Karina is lovely to watch, even when she’s doing absolutely nothing.
The Blu-ray transfer is excellent, with plenty of detail and a wide range of grey scale. There are enough bonus features to please any Goddard fan, and the printed booklet is something few DVDs or Blu-rays provide.
– John Sunier
