Godard’s crunchy 1962 masterpiece was only his fourth feature. But the mix of extended passages of meditative dialogue and striking, wordless stretches of beautifully observant visuals perhaps set the template for the work that’s come in the decades since. Nana Kleinfrankenheim (Anna Karina) stands in for Joan of Arc, Louise Brooks, modern woman, wife (Godard’s bride of the time). Politics, pop music, the human face: there’s so much to soak up in “Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux (My Life to Live: A Film in 12 Scenes).” Epigrams to take away: “Yes, he says, photography is truth, and cinema is the truth twenty-four times a second” and “Love can be a solution, if it is true,” and Nana’s refrain, “C’est comme ça” (“That’s the way it goes,” sort of), which also recurs in Bresson’s “Pickpocket.” Restored 35mm print. (Ray Pride)
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