Having dipped my toe into the
murky waters of the French New Wave with Breathless last week, I’m now ankle deep but the water is no clearer. I enjoy exploring
new cinematic avenues, whether it be silent comedy, Italian horror or Korean
thrillers but I’ve never had so much difficulty in expressing myself with the
written word as I’m having while trying to compose my thoughts about the films
of Jean-Luc Godard. My Life to Live
or Vivre sa vie in its original
French is a film in twelve chapters about a young Parisian woman who dreams of
becoming an actress but is drawn into prostitution when money becomes ever more
illusive. Anna Karina, Godard’s then wife, stars in the central role and puts
in a mesmerising performance in a film which I struggled to enjoy but couldn’t
take my eyes off.
From what little I’ve seen of
Godard’s canon, I think it’s fair to say that he’s a director with an eye for
beauty. The images he crates are sumptuous and filled with splendour despite
the slightly crinkled, low budget style of film making in which he partakes. Breathless was amongst the best looking
films I’ve seen while My Life to Live
exerts its beauty in a steadier, more measured manner, lingering on beauty
rather than allowing it to rush by. At the centre of all this is Anna Karina
herself, a woman whose eyes flash at the screen in such a way as to make her
audience melt.
