2009 Souvenir Program Guide - California Film Institute

MIROIR…MYSTÈRE…MAGIQUE
by Karen Davis
SNAPSHOT: ONSCREEN
Vivre sa vie (1962): A young woman
sits in a darkened movie theater
alone, raising her gaze to the image
onscreen of another young woman
(Maria Falconetti, in Carl Theodor
Dreyer’s 1928 silent masterwork,
The Passion of Joan of Arc) who, in
turn, lifts her eyes to meet those of
an off-screen presence as she pleads
for her right to be free. Both women
mirror each other’s emotions, their
radiant faces shining with tears, their
expressive eyes reflecting beauty,
suffering and an all-encompassing
empathy.
The young woman, alone in the
theater, is “Nana”—no one in
particular, a character whose name
is French slang for “just a girl.” A
mystery. A cipher. Starring in Jean-
Luc Godard’s 1962 New Wave chef
d’oeuvre Vivre sa vie is actress Anna
LE PETIT SOLDAT
Karina—but, as “Nana,” she is also
you, me and everyone who has ever been moved to tears by the
power of cinema; a projection of our most powerful dreams and
strongest desires, our wish to be free.
This is just one of the thousands of image-snapshots refl ecting the
brilliance of an actor, a star, who can inhabit such a role, as “no one in
particular,” while crafting one of the most memorable cinematic
performances of our time. Anna Karina: a mirror, a mystery, blessed
with ineffable magic that is palpable, and timeless.
SNAPSHOT: OFF-SCREEN
Born and raised in Denmark, Anna Karina (née Hanne Karin Blarke
Bayer) made her screen debut in 1959, when Danish fi lmmaker Ib
Schmedes discovered her, quite literally, singing and dancing in the
streets to her own rhythm. Schmedes’ 11-minute fi lm, Pigen og Skoene
(The Girl with the Shoes), garnered the Best Short Film award at
Cannes and launched Karina’s career.
But life was not a Hollywood musical by any means. To escape a
diffi cult family situation, she moved to Paris at 18. Speaking no French,
72
ANNA KARINA
Anna sought shelter at the Danish Church on the Champs-Élysées.
She found work wherever she could: elevator girl, spare-change
street-art painter. Then, the fi rst of several lucky coups de foudre
struck: an introduction to Coco Chanel (who bestowed the name
“Anna Karina” upon her), followed by a smashingly successful career
as a top Parisian model.
But Anna held fast to a girlhood dream to act. Again she struck out
on her own, until another coup de foudre: Jean-Luc Godard, famed fi lm
critic, director, enfant terrible and Karina’s soon-to-be husband (now
ex-mari) spotted her in a soap commercial. In the fi lms and years that
followed, the magical Karina/Godard collaboration became an
internationally recognized beacon of 20th-century French culture,
and a benchmark for world cinema at large.
Generally acknowledged as the muse for Godard’s greatest work, Anna
starred in several of his seminal fi lms, including Le petit soldat (1960),
Une femme est une femme/A Woman Is a Woman (1961), which garnered
Karina the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival, Vivre sa vie/My
Life to Live (1962), Bande à part/Band of Outsiders (1964), Alphaville
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