512 Vivre sa vie

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

512 Vivre sa vie

#1 Post by Matt » Fri Jan 15, 2010 3:19 pm

[url=http://criterion_production.s3.amazonaws.com/release_images/2656/512_box_348x490_w100.jpg]Vivre sa vie[/url]

[img]http://criterion_production.s3.amazonaws.com/release_images/2656/512_box_348x490_w128.jpg[/img]

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 is 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.

Disc 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 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

Available on DVD and Blu-ray

DVD
Criterionforum.org user rating averages

Feature currently disabled
Blu-ray
Criterionforum.org user rating averages

Feature currently disabled

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#2 Post by domino harvey » Fri Jan 15, 2010 5:45 pm

I knew they'd be porting over Martin's Madman commentary, which is arguably best commentary ever recorded for a Godard film in terms of breadth of background

User avatar
zachhh
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2009 5:41 pm
Location: florida

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#3 Post by zachhh » Fri Jan 15, 2010 7:10 pm

i haven't seen this but it sounds a little like Nights of Cabiria

User avatar
Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#4 Post by Matt » Sat Jan 16, 2010 2:24 am

Well, it's in black and white and about a prostitute, so... yes!

User avatar
Napier
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:48 am
Location: The Shire

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#5 Post by Napier » Sat Jan 16, 2010 3:02 am

I hope there are clowns in it. Blu-ray clowns are scary.

User avatar
alandau
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2004 5:37 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#6 Post by alandau » Sun Jan 17, 2010 5:43 am

I have never thought much of Martin's commentaries or his public presentations (i.e Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards and Holocaust historiography at Monash University). However, I will be open to his interpretation of Godard.

User avatar
Florinaldo
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 7:38 pm
Location: Canada

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#7 Post by Florinaldo » Sun Jan 17, 2010 10:42 am

alandau wrote:I have never thought much of Martin's commentaries or his public presentations (i.e Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards and Holocaust historiography at Monash University). However, I will be open to his interpretation of Godard.
As for myself, I found his commentaries on Godard' 2 ou 3 Choses Que je Sais d'Elle and on a Australian edition of Buñuel's El Ángel Exterminador very well argued and informative. However, on the Australian Ángel one of his points was undermined by the fact that the repetition of the arrival of the guests which he mentions was edited out of the print used.

I very much look forward to that release, since I have a very dim memory of it, from too many decades ago, although I seem to recall that the distancing effect from Karina's acting is not pronounced as in other efforts.

User avatar
somnambulating
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:10 am

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#8 Post by somnambulating » Wed Jan 20, 2010 7:55 pm

The Credits listing on the Criterion page, "Thought out, written, shot, edited, in sum, directed by..." these are Criterion's words or did I miss it in the movie?

cinemartin

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#9 Post by cinemartin » Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:00 pm

They are on the very first title card, I believe. They are in small type though.

User avatar
MoonlitKnight
Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2009 10:44 pm

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#10 Post by MoonlitKnight » Tue Jan 26, 2010 8:03 am

Yay, come 4/20, I'll have all of Godard's '60s films (i.e. pretty much the only ones worth owning :oops: )!

User avatar
justeleblanc
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:05 pm
Location: Connecticut

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#11 Post by justeleblanc » Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:06 am

MoonlitKnight wrote:Yay, come 4/20, I'll have all of Godard's '60s films (i.e. pretty much the only ones worth owning :oops: )!
... says someone who's never seen NUMERO DEUX

User avatar
Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
Location: Upstate NY

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#12 Post by Murdoch » Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:42 am

Godard's 60s films are my least favorite of his.

User avatar
dad1153
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:32 am
Location: New York, NY

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#13 Post by dad1153 » Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:33 pm

Murdoch wrote:Godard's films are my least favorite of his.
Fixed! :P

User avatar
klee13
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 2:33 pm
Location: NYC

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#14 Post by klee13 » Tue Jan 26, 2010 1:57 pm

dad1153 wrote:
Murdoch wrote:Godard's films are my least favorite of his.
Fixed! :P
Yeah, too bad about that Godard guy, dying at the height of his career. Who knows what great films he would've made had he lived on.

User avatar
Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
Location: Upstate NY

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#15 Post by Murdoch » Tue Jan 26, 2010 2:58 pm

There should really be a moratorium on one-off statements about forum members' favorite directors, it only brings out the worst in people.

User avatar
perkizitore
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:29 pm
Location: OOP is the only answer

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#16 Post by perkizitore » Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:02 pm


User avatar
triodelover
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:11 pm
Location: The hills of East Tennessee

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#17 Post by triodelover » Tue Mar 30, 2010 1:37 pm


User avatar
Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#18 Post by Matt » Tue Mar 30, 2010 1:47 pm

Stunning. I can't wait until my copy arrives so that I can chuck my Fox Lorber DVD straight into the trash can.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#19 Post by domino harvey » Tue Mar 30, 2010 1:51 pm

The Fox Lorber was their best Godard transfer though. While this is obviously a step up, I think every disc of this I've owned has been from a quality print.

montgomery
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2005 6:02 pm
Location: Brooklyn, NY

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#20 Post by montgomery » Tue Mar 30, 2010 2:36 pm

Yeah, the Fox Lorber screen caps hold up surprisingly well. If it wasn't for the upgrade to Blu, I might've stuck with it.

User avatar
cdnchris
Site Admin
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:45 pm
Location: Washington
Contact:

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#21 Post by cdnchris » Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:18 pm

Matt wrote:Stunning. I can't wait until my copy arrives so that I can chuck my Fox Lorber DVD straight into the trash can.
Burn it like I did with Breathless

User avatar
Napier
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:48 am
Location: The Shire

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#22 Post by Napier » Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:32 pm

cdnchris wrote:
Matt wrote:Stunning. I can't wait until my copy arrives so that I can chuck my Fox Lorber DVD straight into the trash can.
Burn it like I did with Breathless
Or donate it to the local library.

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#23 Post by swo17 » Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:39 pm

Perhaps because of confusion over the language of the title, those Fox Lorbers are still going for decent money at amazon marketplace and half.com. Depending on the condition of your DVD, you might could make $10-$20 off it and mostly subsidize the cost of an upgrade.

User avatar
tajmahal
Joined: Mon May 11, 2009 11:10 pm

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#24 Post by tajmahal » Tue Mar 30, 2010 5:22 pm

triodelover wrote:Beaver
Attention Domino Harvey, The final Beaver screencap is your avatar in waiting.

User avatar
Noiretirc
Joined: Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:04 pm
Location: VanIsle
Contact:

Re: 512 Vivre sa vie

#25 Post by Noiretirc » Tue Mar 30, 2010 11:22 pm

Matt wrote:Stunning. I can't wait until my copy arrives so that I can chuck my Fox Lorber DVD straight into the trash can.
Trash Can
1655 Arden Rd
Courtenay BC, Canada
V9N 9K4

Post Reply