Vivre sa vie was a turning point for Jean-Luc Godard and remains one of his most dynamic films, combining brilliant visual design with a tragic character study. The lovely Anna Karina, Godard’s greatest muse, plays Nana, a young Parisian who aspires to be an actress but instead ends up a prostitute, her downward spiral depicted in a series of discrete tableaux of daydreams and dances. Featuring some of Karina and Godard’s most iconic moments—from her movie theater vigil with The Passion of Joan of Arc to her seductive pool-hall strut—Vivre sa vie is a landmark of the French New Wave that still surprises at every turn.

SPECIAL FEATURES

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition

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 Godard’s original scenario, a new essay by critic Michael Atkinson, interviews with Godard, and a reprint by critic Jean Collet on the film’s soundtrack

New cover by F. Ron Miller