Project Cinema (9): Anna

An extensive. mouthwatering guest-selection by copain Skunkeye:
Danish transplant Anna Karina is perhaps the ultimate voice and face of the French Nouvelle Vague. Iconographic as the muse and leading actress of Jean-Luc Godard's post-Breathless (À bout de souffle) primordial masterpieces, including Vivre Sa Vie, Pierrot le Fou and Alphaville, the dangerously beautiful and beguiling Karina appeared in various international productions throughout the late 60s and 70s (including the ill-fated George Cukor meets camels extravaganza, Justine – based on my fave Durrell's literary quartet) but somehow wasn't able to capitalize and expand on her talents effectively during the ensuing generations.

Anna Karina has always been my number one babe. Filles Sourires aficionados most likely know her charged Roller Girl and the lovely songs she animated on the legendary Serge Gainsbourg-scored French telepic, Anna. The legendary Karina most recently made a brief cameo, as a rather heated chanteuse during a nightclub scene in Jonathan Demme's New Wave inspired, but ultimately unsuccessful, re-working of the Cary Grant-Audrey Hepburn vehicle, Charade, this time called the Truth About Charlie, and inexplicably headlining Marky Mark (but Thandie Newton plays well). The soundtrack rocks, though, and reflects the pervasive multicultural sensibilities of le Moyen Paris.

Back to my babe Anna Karina, here are two tracks from Antoine Duhamel's breathtaking soundtrack to Jean-Luc Godard's Pierrot le Fou, the poignant and timeless Jamias je ne t'ai dit que je t'aimerai toujours (a mon amour) (quel mouthful!) and the rather disposable but charming Mic & Mac.

Philippe Katerine, purveyor of good taste, collaborated with Anna Karina at the turn of the turn of the last century, and the results yielded the torchy and jazz-inflected Une Histoire de L'amour. Madame Anna Karina revisited her signature chanson and turned in some nice duets with her youngish partner in crime. Its worth noting the that the timbre in the icon's voice has dropped dramatically (ala Marianne Faithfull) and that presumed years of hard living have resulted in a poignant delivery.

Supposing life is a cabaret, here is a reflective revisiting of Jamais je ne t'ai dit que..., a rompy duet with Katerine, Aimons L'amour, and a possibly auto-biographical torch-song, Anne Karine.

Anna Karina - Jamais je ne t'ai dit que je t'aimerai toujours (a mon amour)
Anna Karina - Mic & Mac
Anna Karina & Katerine - Jamais je ne t'ai dit que je t'aimerai toujours (a mon amour)
Anna Karina - Aimons L'Amour
Anna Karina - Anne Karine