The Little Soldier  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
Revision as of 18:11, 15 December 2019
Jahsonic (Talk | contribs)

← Previous diff		 Current revision
Jahsonic (Talk | contribs)

Line 1: Line 1:
{{Template}} {{Template}}
-'''Anna Karina''' (born '''Hanne Karin Bayer''', 22 September 1940 - 14 December 2019) was a Danish-French film actress, director, writer, and singer. She rose to prominence as [[French New Wave]] director [[Jean-Luc Godard]]'s [[Muses|muse]] in the 1960s, performing in several of his films, including ''[[The Little Soldier]]'' (1960), ''[[A Woman Is a Woman]]'' (1961), ''[[Vivre sa vie]]'' (1962), ''[[Band of Outsiders]]'' (1964), and ''[[Pierrot le Fou]]'' and ''[[Alphaville (film)|Alphaville]]'' (both 1965). For her performance in ''A Woman Is a Woman'', Karina won the [[Silver Bear for Best Actress|Silver Bear Award for Best Actress]] at the [[11th Berlin International Film Festival|Berlin Film Festival]].+'''''The Little Soldier''''' ({{lang-fr|Le Petit Soldat}}) is a 1963 French film, written and directed by [[France|French]] filmmaker [[Jean-Luc Godard]], but not released until 1963. It was Godard's first film with [[Anna Karina]], who starred as Véronica Dreyer alongside [[Michel Subor]] (as Bruno Forestier).
-In 1972, Karina set up a [[production company]] for her [[List of directorial debuts|directorial debut]], ''[[Vivre ensemble]]'' (1973), which screened in the [[International Critics' Week|Critics’ Week]] lineup at the [[1973 Cannes Film Festival|26th Cannes Film Festival]]. +==Plot==
-She also directed the [[Cinema of Quebec|French-Canadian]] film ''[[Victoria (2008 film)|Victoria]]'' (2008). In addition to her work in [[Film industry|cinema]], she worked as a singer, and wrote several novels in French.+During the [[Algerian War]], Bruno Forestier lives in [[Geneva]] to escape the enlistment in France. Working for French intelligence, he is ordered to kill Palivoda, who is pro-[[National Liberation Front (Algeria)|FLN]] (National Liberation Front of Algeria), to prove he is not a [[double agent]]. Refusal and hesitation keep him from carrying out the assassination.
-Karina was widely considered an [[Pop icon|icon]] of 1960s cinema. ''[[The New York Times]]'' described her as "one of the screen's great beauties and an enduring symbol of the French New Wave."+Meanwhile, he meets and falls in love with Véronica Dreyer, who helped the FLN. Bruno plans to leave with her for [[Brazil]], but is captured and tortured by Algerian revolutionaries.
-==Early life==+He escapes, and agrees to kill Palivoda for the French in exchange for passage to Brazil for himself and Véronica. However, the French discover Véronica's ties to the FLN, and torture her to death.
-Karina's mother was a dress shop owner and her father left the family a year after she was born. She lived with her maternal grandparents for three years, until she was four. She spent the next four years in foster care before returning to live with her mother. She has described her childhood as "terribly wanting to be loved", and as a child she made numerous attempts to run away from home.+
-She began her career in [[Denmark]], where she sang in [[cabaret]]s and worked as a model playing in commercials. At age 14, she appeared in a Danish short film by Ib Schmedes, which won a prize at [[Cannes film festival|Cannes]]. In 1958, after a row with her mother, she hitchhiked to Paris.+==Themes==
 +The situation in Algeria and the [[denunciation]] of the use of [[torture]] by both sides are the main themes of the movie.
-==Career==+The film shows a typical theme of Jean-Luc Godard, developed in his later works: interrogation about the nature of cinema (Bruno Forestier in the movie: "''La photographie, c'est la vérité, et le cinéma, c'est vingt-quatre fois la vérité par seconde''" – "Photography is truth, and cinema is truth 24 times per second") and the image (the photo-shoot of Véronica).
-=== Modeling ===+==Release==
-Karina was 17 when she arrived in Paris poor and unable to speak French. She lived on the streets. One day while sitting at the café [[Les Deux Magots]] she was approached by a woman from an advertisement agency who asked her to do some photos. She began to work as a model and eventually became successful, posing for several magazines, including ''[[Elle (magazine)|Elle]]'', and meeting [[Pierre Cardin]] and [[Coco Chanel]]. Karina said that Chanel helped her devise her professional name, Anna Karina.+The film was [[Censorship in France|banned in France]] until January 1963, because of the presence of torture scenes. This was Godard's second feature film (after ''[[Breathless (1960 film)|À bout de souffle]]'') but was released as his fourth movie. This is the first of Jean-Luc Godard's movies starring Anna Karina, who became his wife soon after the filming. She would go on to become the quintessential Godard actress.
- +
-=== Film ===+
-[[Jean-Luc Godard]], then a film critic for ''[[Cahiers du cinéma]]'', first saw Karina in a series of [[Palmolive (soap)|Palmolive]] ads in which she posed in bathtubs. He was casting his debut feature film, ''[[Breathless (1960 film)|Breathless]]'', and offered her a small part in it, but she refused when he mentioned that there would be a nude scene. When Godard questioned her refusal, mentioning her apparent nudity in the Palmolive ads, she is said to have replied, "Are you mad? I was wearing a bathing suit in those ads—the soapsuds went up to my neck. It was in your mind that I was undressed."+
- +
-In the end, the character Godard reserved for Karina did not appear in the film. The next year, however, Godard offered her a role in ''[[Le Petit Soldat]]'' (1960). Karina, then still under 21, had to persuade her estranged mother to sign the contract for her.+
- +
-Karina won the [[Silver Bear for Best Actress|Best Actress Award]] at the [[11th Berlin International Film Festival|Berlin Film Festival]] in 1961 for her performance as Angela in ''[[A Woman Is a Woman]]''. Her career continued to flourish thereafter, as she appeared in dozens of films through the 1960s, including Godard's ''[[Bande à part (film)|Bande à part]]'' (1964), ''[[The Nun (1966 film)|The Nun]]'' (1966), directed by [[Jacques Rivette]], [[Luchino Visconti]]'s ''[[The Stranger (1967 film)|The Stranger]]'' (1967), the [[George Cukor]]/[[Joseph Strick]] collaboration ''[[Justine (1969 film)|Justine]]'' (1969), and [[Tony Richardson]]'s ''[[Laughter in the Dark (film)|Laughter in the Dark]]'' (1969). She continued to work steadily into the 1970s, with roles in [[Christian de Chalonge]]'s ''[[The Wedding Ring (1971 film)|The Wedding Ring]]'' (''L'Alliance'', 1971), [[Andre Delvaux]]'s ''[[Rendezvous at Bray]]'' (''Rendez-vous à Bray'', also 1971), ''[[The Salzburg Connection]]'' (1972), and [[Franco Brusati]]'s ''[[Bread and Chocolate]]'' (''Pane e cioccolata'', 1973).+
-[[File:Anna Karina July 1977.jpg|thumb|263x263px|Karina in 1977]]+
-In 1972, she set up a [[production company]], Raska, for her directorial debut, ''[[Vivre ensemble]]'' (1973), in which she also acted. The film screened in the [[International Critics' Week|Critics’ Week]] lineup at the [[1973 Cannes Film Festival|26th Cannes Film Festival]].+
- +
-In 1976, she starred in [[Rainer Werner Fassbinder]]'s ''[[Chinese Roulette]]'' (1976); Fassbinder allegedly wrote the film for her and her partner at the time, [[Ulli Lommel]]. She later wrote and acted in ''Last Song'' (1987) and has since appeared in ''[[Haut, Bas, Fragile]]'' (1995), directed by [[Jacques Rivette]], and sung in ''[[The Truth About Charlie]]'' (2002), a remake of the 1963 film ''[[Charade (1963 film)|Charade]]''.+
- +
-In 2008, Karina wrote, directed and starred in ''[[Victoria (2008 film)|Victoria]]'', a musical [[road movie]] filmed in [[Montreal]], Quebec and [[Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean]]. Richard Kuipers praised it in ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' as "a pleasant gambol through the backwoods of Quebec."+
- +
-===Music===+
-Karina also maintained a singing career. At the end of the 1960s, she scored a major hit with "Sous le soleil exactement" and "Roller Girl" by [[Serge Gainsbourg]]. Both songs are from the TV musical comedy ''[[Anna (1967 film)|Anna]]'' (1967), by the film director [[Pierre Koralnik]], in which she sings seven songs alongside Gainsbourg and [[Jean-Claude Brialy]]. Karina subsequently recorded an album, ''[[Une histoire d'amour]]'', with [[Philippe Katerine]], which was followed by a concert tour. In 2005, she released ''Chansons de films'', a collection of songs sung in movies.+
- +
-===Writing===+
-Karina wrote four novels: ''Vivre ensemble'' (1973), ''Golden City'' (1983), ''On n'achète pas le soleil'' (1988), and ''Jusqu'au bout du hasard'' (1998).+
- +
-== Personal life ==+
- +
-In 1961, after working together on ''Le Petit Soldat'', Karina and Godard were married; ''[[The Independent]]'' described them as "one of the most celebrated pairings of the 1960s." During their marriage, they made seven feature films together.+
- +
-Despite the critical success, their relationship behind the scenes was described as tumultuous; they fought on film sets, Karina fell ill several times, and Godard was often absent without explanation. The couple divorced in 1965. Karina said they no longer spoke to each other. She described the relationship in an interview with [[W (magazine)|''W Magazine'']]:<blockquote>It was all very exciting from the beginning. Of course we have a great love story and all that, but we were so different. He was 10 years older than me. He was very strange. He would go away and come back three weeks later ... It was difficult, and I was a young girl, not even 21—at the time Godard was 30. I know he didn't mean to hurt me, but he did. He was never there, he was never coming back, and I never knew where he was. He drove me a bit crazy.+
-</blockquote>After divorcing Godard, Karina remarried several times; she was married to French actors Pierre Fabre from 1968 to 1974 and [[Daniel Duval]] from 1978 to 1981, and to American film director [[Dennis Berry (director)|Dennis Berry]] from 1982 to 1994.+
- +
-Karina died on 14 December 2019 from cancer.+
- +
-== Legacy ==+
-Karina is widely considered an [[Pop icon|icon]] of 1960s cinema as well as a style icon. ''[[The Guardian]]'' described her as an "effervescent free spirit of the French new wave." [[Refinery29]] wrote that "her 60s French girl style – think sailor dresses, tartan, long socks, and hats – and mesmerizing doe-eyed beauty mean she continues to be referenced today by the super-stylish."+
- +
-==Selected filmography==+
-Karina appeared in the following films:+
- +
-{| class="wikitable sortable"+
-! Year+
-! Title+
-! Role+
-! Director+
-|-+
-|rowspan=3|1960+
-|''{{sortname|The|Little Soldier|The Little Soldier}}''+
-|Veronica Dreyer+
-|[[Jean-Luc Godard]]+
-|-+
-|''{{sortname|A|Woman Is a Woman|A Woman Is a Woman}}''+
-|Angela Récamier +
-|Jean-Luc Godard+
-|-+
-|''[[Tonight or Never (1961 film)|Tonight or Never]]''+
-|Valérie+
-|[[Michel Deville]]+
-|-+
-|rowspan=3|1961+
-|''[[Cléo from 5 to 7]]'' (episode "Les fiancés du pont Macdonald")+
-| The Fiancée+
-|[[Agnès Varda]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Sun in Your Eyes]]''+
-|Dagmar+
-|Jacques Bourdon+
-|-+
-|''[[She'll Have to Go]]''+
-|Toni+
-|[[Robert Asher (director)|Robert Asher]]+
-|-+
-|rowspan=3|1962+
-|''[[My Life to Live]]''+
-|Nana+
-|Jean-Luc Godard+
-|-+
-|''[[Three Fables of Love]]'' (episode "Le corbeau et le renard")+
-|Colombe +
-|[[Hervé Bromberger]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Shéhérazade (film)|Shéhérazade]]''+
-|Shéhérazade+
-|[[Pierre Gaspard-Huit]]+
-|-+
-|rowspan=2|1963+
-|''[[Sweet and Sour (film)|Sweet and Sour]]''+
-|Ginette+
-|[[Jacques Baratier]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Un mari à un prix fixe]]''+
-|Béatrice Reinhoff+
-|[[Claude de Givray]]+
-|-+
-|rowspan=5|1964+
-|''[[Circle of Love (film)|Circle of Love]]''+
-|Rose / The Chambermaid+
-|[[Roger Vadim]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Bande à part (film)|Band of Outsiders]]''+
-|Odile+
-|Jean-Luc Godard+
-|-+
-|''[[All About Loving]]''+
-|Hélène+
-|[[Jean Aurel]]+
-|-+
-|''{{sortname|The|Thief of Tibidabo|The Thief of Tibidabo}}''+
-| Maria+
-|[[Maurice Ronet]]+
-|-+
-|''{{sortname|The|Camp Followers|The Camp Followers}}''+
-| Elenitza+
-|[[Valerio Zurlini]]+
-|-+
-|rowspan=2|1965+
-|''[[Pierrot le fou]]''+
-|Marianne Renoir +
-|Jean-Luc Godard+
-|-+
-|''[[Alphaville (film)|Alphaville]]''+
-|Natascha von Braun+
-|Jean-Luc Godard+
-|-+
-|rowspan=3|1966+
-|''{{sortname|The|Nun|The Nun (1966 film)}}''+
-|Suzanne Simonin +
-|[[Jacques Rivette]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Made in U.S.A. (1966 film)|Made in U.S.A.]]''+
-|Paula Nelson +
-|Jean-Luc Godard +
-|- +
-|''{{sortname|The|Oldest Profession|The Oldest Profession}}'' (episode "Anticipation")+
-|Natasha / Eleanor Romeovich, Hostess 703+
-|Jean-Luc Godard+
-|-+
-|rowspan=4|1967+
-|''{{sortname|The|Stranger|The Stranger (1967 film)}}''+
-|Marie Cardona+
-| [[Luchino Visconti]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Anna (1967 film)|Anna]]''+
-|Anna+
-|[[Pierre Koralnik]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Zärtliche Haie]]''+
-|Elena / Costa +
-|[[Michel Deville]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Lamiel]]''+
-|Lamiel+
-|[[Jean Aurel]]+
-|-+
-|rowspan=3|1968+
-|''{{sortname|The|Magus|The Magus (film)}}'' +
-|Anne+
-|[[Guy Green (filmmaker)|Guy Green]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Before Winter Comes]]''+
-|Maria+
-|[[J. Lee Thompson]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Man on Horseback]]'' +
-|Elisabeth Kohlhaas+
-|[[Volker Schlöndorff]]+
-|-+
-|rowspan=3|1969+
-|''[[Justine (1969 film)|Justine]]''+
-|Melissa+
-|[[George Cukor]] and [[Joseph Strick]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Laughter in the Dark (film)|Laughter in the Dark]]''+
-|Margot+
-| [[Tony Richardson]]+
-|-+
-|''{{sortname|The|Time to Die|The Time to Die}}''+
-|The Young Girl +
-|André Farwagi+
-|-+
-|rowspan=2|1970+
-|''[[The Time to Die]]''+
-|The Unnamed Woman+
-|André Farwagi+
-|-+
-|''{{sortname|The|Wedding Ring|The Wedding Ring (1971 film)}}''+
-|Jeanne +
-|[[Christian de Chalonge]]+
-|-+
-|rowspan=2|1971+
-|''[[Rendezvous at Bray]]''+
-|She (The Waitress) +
-|[[André Delvaux]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Carlos (film)|Carlos]]''+
-|Clara+
-|[[Hans W. Geißendörfer]]+
-|-+
-|rowspan=2|1972+
-|''{{sortname|The|Salzburg Connection|The Salzburg Connection}}''+
-|Anna Bryant +
-|[[Lee H. Katzin]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Vivre ensemble]]''+
-|Julie Anderson+
-| Anna Karina+
-|-+
-|rowspan=2|1973+
-|''[[Morel's Invention (film)|Morel's Invention]]''+
-|Faustine+
-|[[Emidio Greco]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Bread and Chocolate]]''+
-|Elena +
-|[[Franco Brusati]]+
-|-+
-|1975+
-|''[[Scrambled Eggs (1976 film)|Scrambled Eggs]]''+
-|Clara Dutilleul+
-|[[Joël Santoni]]+
-|-+
-|rowspan=2|1976+
-|''{{sortname|The|Musician Killer|The Musician Killer}}''+
-|Louise +
-|[[Benoît Jacquot]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Chinese Roulette]]''+
-|Irene Cartis+
-|[[Rainer Werner Fassbinder]]+
-|-+
-|rowspan=2|1978+
-|''[[Surprise Sock]]''+
-|Nathalie+
-|[[Jean-François Davy]]+
-|-+
-|''[[Just like Home (1978 film)|Just like Home]]''+
-|Anna+
-|[[Márta Mészáros]]+
-|-+
-|1979+
-|''{{sortname|The|Story of a Mother|The Story of a Mother (film)}}''+
-|Christine Olsen +
-|Claus Weeke+
-|-+
-|1980+
-|''Charlotte, Tell Your Mother that I Love Her''+
-|Stéphane+
-|Aly Borgini+
-|-+
-|1983+
-|''Vincent's Friend''+
-|Eleonore+
-|[[Pierre Granier-Deferre]]+
-|-+
-|1984+
-|''[[Ave Maria (1984 film)|Ave Maria]]''+
-|Berthe Granjeux +
-|Jacques Richard+
-|-+
-|1985+
-|''[[Treasure Island (1985 film)|Treasure Island]]''+
-|The Mother +
-|[[Raoul Ruiz]]+
-|-+
-|rowspan=4|1987+
-|''Last Song''+
-|Susan+
-|[[Dennis Berry (director)|Dennis Berry]]+
-|-+
-|''Last Summer in Tangiers''+
-|Myrrha, a cabaret singer+
-|[[Alexandre Arcady]]+
-|-+
-|''Cayenne Palace''+
-|Lola+
-|Alain Maline+
-|-+
-|''{{sortname|The|Abyss|The Abyss (1988 film)}}''+
-|Catherine +
-|[[André Delvaux]]+
-|-+
-|1990+
-|''The Man Who Wanted to Be Guilty''+
-|Edith+
-|Ole Roos+
-|-+
-|1994+
-|''[[Up, Down, Fragile]]''+
-|Sarah+
-|Jacques Rivette+
-|-+
-|1996+
-|''[[Chloé (1996 film)|Chloé]]''+
-|Katia+
-|[[Dennis Berry (director)|Dennis Berry]]+
-|-+
-|2002+
-|''{{sortname|The|Truth About Charlie|The Truth About Charlie}}''+
-|Karina+
-|[[Jonathan Demme]]+
-|-+
-|2003+
-|''[[I, Cesar]]''+
-|Gloria+
-|[[Richard Berry (actor)|Richard Berry]]+
-|-+
-|2008+
-|''[[Victoria (2008 film)|Victoria]]''+
-| Victoria +
-| Anna Karina+
-|}+
-==See also==+
-*[[Monsavon]]+
{{GFDL}} {{GFDL}}

Current revision

Related e

Wikipedia
Wiktionary
Shop

Featured:

The Little Soldier (Template:Lang-fr) is a 1963 French film, written and directed by French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, but not released until 1963. It was Godard's first film with Anna Karina, who starred as Véronica Dreyer alongside Michel Subor (as Bruno Forestier).

[edit]

Plot

During the Algerian War, Bruno Forestier lives in Geneva to escape the enlistment in France. Working for French intelligence, he is ordered to kill Palivoda, who is pro-FLN (National Liberation Front of Algeria), to prove he is not a double agent. Refusal and hesitation keep him from carrying out the assassination.

Meanwhile, he meets and falls in love with Véronica Dreyer, who helped the FLN. Bruno plans to leave with her for Brazil, but is captured and tortured by Algerian revolutionaries.

He escapes, and agrees to kill Palivoda for the French in exchange for passage to Brazil for himself and Véronica. However, the French discover Véronica's ties to the FLN, and torture her to death.

[edit]

Themes

The situation in Algeria and the denunciation of the use of torture by both sides are the main themes of the movie.

The film shows a typical theme of Jean-Luc Godard, developed in his later works: interrogation about the nature of cinema (Bruno Forestier in the movie: "La photographie, c'est la vérité, et le cinéma, c'est vingt-quatre fois la vérité par seconde" – "Photography is truth, and cinema is truth 24 times per second") and the image (the photo-shoot of Véronica).

[edit]

Release

The film was banned in France until January 1963, because of the presence of torture scenes. This was Godard's second feature film (after À bout de souffle) but was released as his fourth movie. This is the first of Jean-Luc Godard's movies starring Anna Karina, who became his wife soon after the filming. She would go on to become the quintessential Godard actress.


Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "The Little Soldier" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

Retrieved from "http://artandpopularculture.com/The_Little_Soldier"
Personal tools
Metas