Anna Karina: The Darling of the Nouvelle Vague
Hero: Anna Karina
05/01/2010
Danish born Hanne Karin Bayer began her career in Denmark as a cabaret singer, a model, an actress in advertisements and short films, and a painter. After a rather tumultuous upbringing, Hanne ran away from home and hitched-hiked to Paris. It was 1958, and she was just 18 years old. Paris was clearly meant to be, as she was approached in a café by someone who worked in advertising, and ended up becoming a model, working with the likes of Pierre Cardin & Coco Chanel, the latter would change her name to Anna Karina.
She was then spotted by Jean-Luc Godard, who at that time was a film critic for Cahiers du Cinéma. He wanted her to star in his début feature A Bout De Souffle, but she declined. She was approached again by Godard to star in Le Petit Soldat, which she accepted. This was the start of a partnership between the two, which lasted 7 films and a 6 year marriage!
During this time she became the darling of the nouvelle vague (new wave), not only starring in some of Godard's best films (and some of the greatest films of all time), but also Agnes Varda's classy Cleo from 5 to 7, and her made for TV vehicle Anna, which in turned spawned a successful album and a hit single.
Post-Godard, Karina continued to work as an actress, most notably for Luchino Visconti in his rarely seen Lo Staniero (an adaptation of Albert Camus' classic novel 'The Stranger'), Fassbinder's Chinese Roulette, an English speaking role opposite Michael Caine in The Magus and she directed herself in 1973's Vivre Ensemble (which she also wrote, sang on the soundtrack and probably did everything else on the movie). The last movie she directed was 2008's Victoria, which has yet to get a decent release.
Besides her excellent musical contributions to the Pierrot Le Fou & Anna soundtracks, she did release an album Une Histoire D'Amour in 2000, and just a few years ago released chansons de film, which is includes her best tracks from Pierrot, Anna as well as chanson from other movies. For me, the Anna soundtrack is some of her best work, but the track that I believe really sums up Anna's quirky personality is Mic et Mac (originally on the Pierrot Le Fou soundtrack). Her music & vocal ability is very unique. To some it may be hard to listen to, but her music & vocal style really grows on you.
Anna Karina was one of the brightest stars to come out of 1960s France. Brigitte Bardot was a huge star worldwide around the same time, yet today not enough people are aware of Karina's contribution to music & film from the same era. For me she was never better that in Anna, Alphaville, Vivre Sa Vie, Une Femme Est Une Femme and, in particular, Pierrot Le Fou, which is one of the greatest films ever made, and also features Karina in her prime. Beautiful and multi-talented, Anna Karina was an essential part of the nouvelle vague, and thanks to the longevity of film, her talent will forever be encapsulated.
