7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.4 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Nana, a young Parisian, aspires to be an actress but instead ends up a prostitute. Her downward spiral is depicted in a series of discrete tableaux of daydreams and dances.
Starring: Anna Karina, Sady Rebbot, André S. Labarthe, Guylaine Schlumberger, Gérard HoffmanDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 86% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.34:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
French: LPCM Mono
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 5.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Jean-Luc Godard's "Vivre sa vie" a.k.a. "My Life to Live" (1962) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary with film scholar Adrian Martin; an interview with French scholar Jean Narboni; an interview with actress Anna Karina first aired on the French television program Cinepanorama; "La prostitution", an episode of the French television series Faire face directed by Igor Barrere; Marcel Sacotte's study Ou en est: La prostitution; stills gallery; Godard's trailer for the film; and a 42-page illustrated booklet with essays and interviews. In French, with optional English subtitles. Region-A "locked".
Lend yourself to others, but give yourself to yourself - Montaigne
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.34:1, encoded with MPEG-AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre sa vie arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
Contrast and clarity are dramatically improved. For example, in Chapter 4, where Nana is questioned by the police, now we can clearly see her face - she looks sad, perhaps even frightened. On the UK DVD by Nouveaux Pictures, it is almost impossible to see Nana's face. The outdoor scenes also look notably better -- the film grain is a lot more prominent; the blacks and whites are richer and better saturated. The heavy digital noise that plagued the Nouveaux Pictures SDVD is also gone. Macroblocking is also not an issue of concern. Those of you with larger screens at home -- larger than 100' -- will be delighted with the depth and stability of this high-definition transfer. The famous dance scene, for example, looks absolutely fabulous. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing cuts, splices, debris, or stains to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
Telecine supervisors: Lee Kline and Maria Palazzola. Telecine colorists: Abdel Benlatreche/VDM, Paris; Gregg Garvin/Modern Videofilm, Los Angeles.
There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: French LPCM 1.0 (Mono). Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
The monaural soundtrack has been remastered at 24-bit from the optical prints. As a result, the dialog is clean, stable and easy to follow. Legendary French composer Michel Legrand's soundtrack also sounds lovely. There are no balance issues with it either. Finally, while watching Vivre sa vie, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or heavy background hiss to report in this review.
Commentary - an audio commentary with film scholar Adrian Martin recorded in 2001. Mr. Martin addresses the film's unconventional story and structure, Godard's unique filming technique, as well as the era during which the film was shot. Mr. Martin also draws excellent parallels between Vivre sa vie and some of Godard's more prominent films.
Jean Narboni on Vivre sa vie - an interview with French scholar Jean Narboni conducted in 2004 by novelist and film historian Noel Simsolo. Mr. Narboni's deconstruction of Vivre sa vie is exceptionally strong, explaining and pointing out a lot that the untrained eye would likely miss. Mr. Narboni also talks about Godard's evolution as a filmmaker. In French, with optional English subtitles. (46 min, 1080i).
Cinepanorama: Anna Karina - this interview with Anna Karina first aired on the French television program Cinepanorama on April 7, 1962, a few months before the release of Vivre sa vie. It was directed by Francois Chalais. Here, the Danish actress talks about her modeling career in Paris, as well as her encounter with Jean-Luc Godard. In French, with optional English subtitles. (12 min, 1080i).
Faire face: "La prostitution" - presented here are excerpts from "La prostitution", an episode of the French television series Faire face that first aired on February 24, 1961, and was directed by Igor Barrere. It features interviews with Max Fernet, Paris's director of police, and Marcel Sacotte, a magistrate and the author of the 1959 book Ou en est: La prostitution, from which Jean-Luc Godard took inspiration for Vivre sa vie. In French, with optional English subtitles. (22 min, 1080i).
Ou en est: La prostitution - Marcel Sacotte's 1959 study Ou en est: La prostitution served as inspiration for Vivre sa vie. Presented here are photos from Sacotte's expose, as well as a short piece by scholar James Williams on the connection between the film and the book. William's essay originally appeared in longer from in the collection Jean-Luc Godard: Documents, released in 2006 in conjunction with a Godard exhibit at the Centre Pmpidou. The essay is in text format, in English.
Stills gallery -
Godard's trailer - (3 min, 1080p).
Booklet - a 42-page illustrated booklet containing Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre sa vie scenario, first published in the Winter 1962 issue of Film Culture; film critic Michael Atkinson's essay "The Lost Girl"; "Godard on Vivre sa vie" - two interviews with the French director, one from the Winter 1962-63 issue of Sight & Sound, and another that originally appeared in Cahiers du Cinema; and Jean Collet's "An Audacious Experiment: The Soundtrack of Vivre sa vie", which first appeared in La revue du son in December 1962.
As expected, Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre sa vie looks absolutely stunning in high-definition. More importantly, Criterion's Blu-ray disc also features excellent supplemental features. I particularly enjoyed French scholar Jean Narboni's analysis of Godard's film. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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