Vivre Sa Vie (aka My Life To Live) (1962)

An aimless young girl (Anna Karina) half heartedly aspires to become an actress but drifts into prostitution which ultimately proves fatal. Directed by Jean Luc Godard, this is one of his most successfully audacious films. I say successful because it is in the sense that he accomplishes exactly what he set out to do but without alienating certain segments of his audience (not that he'd care). That doesn't mean the endeavor is not without obstacles. Godard is fortunate that the camera (and Godard) adores Anna Karina who is the film's subject. Without Karina, I can't imagine the film existing with the same impact. Godard presents the film in twelve chapters, his camera seemingly as aimless as Karina's Nana but you can be sure the camera is exactly where Godard wants it to be. Some of it may come across as a bit coy like a scene in a restaurant where the action is played by focusing on the back of the heads of the actors rather than their faces. Others are inspired like another restaurant scene where the street outside the window is obviously a backdrop with walking figures frozen in motion (or is it merely wallpaper?). Occasionally, it's self indulgent but those moments are more than made up for by moments like Karina's spontaneous dance at a pool hall which may be the most blissful moment in any of Godard's films. The music is by Michel Legrand. With Sady Rebbot and Brice Parain.