My life to live: a kinematic experience

Filmes Fodásticos (Fuckastic Movies) motto, taken from a phrase by Roger Ebert, states that films are windows in the space / time boxes in which we live. Therefore, when looking through these windows, we will be out of the box for a few moments.

Jean-Luc Godard's My life to live is a classic example of out of the box movie. Released in 1962, at the height of the nouvelle vague of French cinema, the work can be considered a kinematic experience rather than a cinematic one. The big thrill comes from Raoul Cultard's nervous camera that throws the viewer into the scene.

Based on a trite screenplay that would be considered extremely prejudiced these days, the film tells the story of Nana, played by Godard's then-wife, model Anna Karina. It is her face that opens the film as if posing for portraits, in profile and front, to the sound of Michel Legrand's music that, according to the director's wish, simply stops, and reappears in the next scene.

There are twelve chapters, with long titles that reveal in advance what will happen. It's said that they were filmed in single takes, which means that takes were transformed directly into shots without any editing.

Nana is a young Parisian girl who has just split from Paul with whom she left the couple's son, from whom she asks for photos, in a scene filmed at a coffee shop counter behind the characters. That is, we only see their napes and a blurry reflection in the mirror.

Although nothing is known about his motivations, the narrative focuses on Nana. She plays pinball and works in a record store, but has financial problems that force her to try to steal the key from her apartment, held by the concierge possibly for lack of payment.

Passing a street where prostitutes work, Nana accepts a man's invitation and begins to prostitute herself. At first she refuses to kiss the client, but then we follow her progress, narrated as if it were a documentary about prostitution in Paris.

When enchanted by a young student, the woman decides to leave "life" (the name given to prostitution in France), but her pimp certainly does not agree with that, and takes drastic measures to regain his marchandise.

#godard #review