Anticipation
In an article I have read recently, Anna Karina says there are 7 1/2 movies she has made with Godard, which would be:
Une femme est une femme
Vivre sa vie
Le petit soldat
Bande à part
Alphaville
Pierrot le Fou
Made in U.S.A.
Anticipation, ou: l’amour en L’an 2000
It seems I have seen 4 1/2 of them, and there are three more I haven’t seen. Years ago, I think it must have been 2005 even, I saw “Vivre sa Vie” (with its German title “Die Geschichte der Nana S.”) on the shelves of the videotheque (yes, back then I actually went there to get movies!). Somehow I was drawn to that movie, perhaps because I have always been a big fan of prostitutes as protagonists, but at the same time I was afraid it would be too artsy for me. Today, as a Godard fan, I am pretty sure that I won’t find the film too artsy anymore, heh.
The weirdest thing about Godard and Karina is that both of them are alive. To me, these people are on the same level as, say, Antonioni, who incidentally has actually died. I know that’s weird, but this is how I feel. Godard’s nouvelle vague films feel like they are from a time that is unreachable for me now.
“Anticipation” is like “Alphaville”, except that the whole story absolutely makes sense, as much as a science-fiction story by Godard can make sense. Since I loved the style of “Alphaville” (monotone voices, stylish black and white backgrounds), I was more than happy to see that he has retained this style with this little short film. Although Anna Karina is wearing a horrible dress in it, her role fits her absolutely perfectly. I wish this was a full-fledged feature!