Some years ago, my close friend Liam and I were discussing JLG (thats what Godard’s fans short hand him as) and his best film. I mused and said WEEKEND, followed closely by BREATHLESS. 
He sighed and said that he just couldnt get into the Godard game. It was all too much of form spun on its head for his own pleasure and not to the pleasure of the viewer. Too much ‘in the known’ was needed. Well all except for VIRVE SA VIE, which he thought was brilliant. VIVRE SA VIE was indeed brilliant and a turning point for Jean-Luc Godard. It is one of the few films he made that truly crossed over into the cine world for all to enjoy. It was the fourth most watched film in France and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1962 Venice Film Festival. Then most importantly, it aesthtically planted his flag and found his muse, Anna Karina, in top form. We had just come off of watching it on a BFI DVD and where enthused. Now Criterion have taken the bold step to release it via Blu Ray in a new, restored version, for us to compare and contrast anew.
Anna Karina, is Nana, a young Parisian woman life is revealed in 12 chapters. Hoping to become an actress, she left her husband Paul and her infant son. Meeting in a café to play pinball one last time, they discuss what she wants and where she is headed. Work in a record store is the first stage. Earning enough money on her own is hard. Then her landlady kicks her out of her apartment, saying no rent, no stay. Going to watch THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC, Nana tears flow. Their lives are both desperate and destructive. Nana dreams of becoming an actress fail and instead, she ends up a prostitute. The city consumes everything and she is not immune.
Most importantly, its the classic Sony deeper pockets. This gives them access to superior restorations, which VIVRE SA VIE is no exception and can pay more for extras. The transfers HD might even out a few of the cracks but the film looked good before and this just really firms it all up. The extras, some that have been before in the US, are now front and centre. The best is still the printed extras from the essay by critic Michael Atkinson being the go to for those new and old to VIRVE SA VIE. For those well versed in the film and liking a visual medium to be informed by, then Jean Narboni conversation, conducted by historian Noël Simsolo, though tempered and trunchated in feel, is as solid a thing, as you might find no where else. Narboni literally wrote the book on JLG and knew him up to his death, which though said, was his choice and one that is important to remember.
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Audio commentary featuring film scholar Adrian Martin
- Video interview with film scholar Jean Narboni, conducted by historian Noël Simsolo
- Television interview from 1962 with actress Anna Karina
- Excerpts from a 1961 French television exposé on prostitution
- Illustrated essay on La prostitution, the book that served as inspiration for the film
- Stills gallery
- Director Jean-Luc Godard’s original theatrical trailer
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Atkinson, interviews with Godard, a reprint by critic Jean Collet on the film’s soundtrack, and Godard’s original scenario
