Biography: life and films
Karina and Godard first worked together on Le Petit soldat, but because of the film's controversial subject matter its release was delayed for several years. Her French cinema debut was in Godard's next film Une femme est une femme, which won her the Best Actress award at the 1961 Berlin Film Festival. In between making these films, Godard and Karina married. Even though the marriage only lasted three years, the couple had a fruitful working relationship and made several notable films together, including Vivre sa vie (1962), Bande à part (1964), Alphaville (1965), and Pierrot le fou (1965).
Jean-Luc Godard was by no means the only great filmmaker that Anna Karina worked with. She also lent her talents to Luchino Visconti on Lo Straniero (1967), George Cukor on Justine (1969), André Delvaux on Rendez-vous à Bray (1971) and L'Oeuvre au noir (1988) and Rainer Werner Fassbinder on Chinese Roulette (1976). Her leading role in Jacques Rivette's La Religieuse (1967), another film that proved controversial, allowed her to give what many consider to be her finest screen performance. Karina made her directing debut in 1973 with Vivre ensemble, but it would be over three decades before she directed her next film, Victoria (2008). Whilst pursuing a busy acting career on the big and small screen, Anna Karina has also pursued a successful singing career and has found the time to pen four novels.
© James Travers 2017
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Filmography
Key: a = actor; d = director; w = writer; m = musician
Une femme est une femme (1961) [a]
Le Soleil dans l'oeil (1962) [a]
She'll Have to Go (1962) [a]
La Ronde (1964) [a]
Le Voleur de Tibidabo (1964) [a]
Le Soldatesse (1965) [a]
Un mari à prix fixe (1965) [a]
Lamiel (1967) [a]
Lo Straniero (1967) [a]
Zärtliche Haie (1967) [a]
The Magus (1968) [a]
Before Winter Comes (1969) [a]
Justine (1969) [a]
Laughter in the Dark (1969) [a]
Michael Kohlhaas - Der Rebell (1969) [a]
The Salzburg Connection (1972) [a]
Pane e cioccolata (1973) [a]
Vivre ensemble (1973) [a,d,w,m]
L'Invenzione di Morel (1974) [a]
Chinesisches Roulette (1976) [a]
L'Assassin musicien (1976) [a]
Les Oeufs brouillés (1976) [a]
Chaussette surprise (1978) [a]
Ausgerechnet Bananen (1980) [a]
Charlotte, dis à ta mère que je l'aime (1980) [a]
Regina Roma (1982) [a]
L'Ami de Vincent (1983) [a]
Ave Maria (1984) [a]
Treasure Island (1985) [a]
Dernier été à Tanger (1987) [a]
Last Song (1987) [a,w]
Haut bas fragile (1995) [a]
The Truth About Charlie (2002) [a]
Moi César, 10 ans 1/2, 1m39 (2003) [a]
Victoria (2008) [a,d,w]
French cinema during the Nazi Occupation
The very best of the French New Wave
The history of French cinema
