Vivre Sa Vie

Every once in a while I love to revisit my favorite French films:

Bande à part (Band of Outsiders),

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,

Amélie

Breathless

A Woman is a Woman

Masculin féminin

Jules et Jim...the list goes on.

It's one way to dust off my quickly fading French language skills. Of course, all of the films are endless sources of style inspiration and I love that! But, mostly I love that in them, day to day activities (conversations at a cafe, a walk down a rainy street, a couple routinely getting ready for bed, making toast for breakfast) are romanticized - the slightest movement to the grandest gestures, are made poetic. It's going to sound silly I suppose, but I try to live my day to day life that way - make everything an occasion of sorts- sometimes I wish I was a heroine in a book, or a lead in a quirky little film.

Surprisingly enough I hadn't yet seen Vivre Sa Vie until the other night - and it is now easily my favorite Godard film. It has one of the saddest speeches I've ever seen/heard in a movie.

And, as always Anna Karina is amazing and beautiful.

Nana: Shouldnt love be the only truth?
The Philosopher: For that, love would always have to be true.

Nana: The more one talks, the less the words mean.

There are a variety of interesting philosophical and sociological themes in the film- from womens autonomy, the concept of freedom, the social impact of prostitution, and Plato's philosophy of language. It's so subtly done- and like all Cinéma vérité, you feel as though you are truly glimpsing into someones life. This is really worth watching if you haven't already seen it.