Anna Karina (1940-2019) was the actress known as “the face of French New Wave cinema.” Her work with director Jean-Luc Godard shaped the evolution of film in the late 20th century. However, she wasn’t just an icon of the silver screen. She was also a director, hit singer, novelist, and model.
Anna Karina (1940-2019) was the actress known as “the face of French New Wave cinema.” Her work with director Jean-Luc Godard shaped the evolution of film in the late 20th century. However, she wasn’t just an icon of the silver screen. She was also a director, hit singer, novelist, and model.
This month, we’re talking about muses–women who were drivers of creativity and inspiration. Once again, we’re proud to partner with Mercedes-Benz (whose famous namesake was inspired by a young muse named Mercedes). Tune in daily for stories of women whose lives inspired work that has shaped our culture.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan. This is Womanica.
This month, we’re talking about muses. Women who’ve captivated artists with their charisma, wit and talent.
Today, we’re talking about the actress known as “the face of French New Wave cinema.” Her work with director Jean-Luc Godard shaped the evolution of film in the late 20th century. But she wasn’t just an icon of the silver screen. She was a director, hit singer, novelist, and model.
Meet Anna Karina.
Anna was born Hanne Karin Black Bayer on September 22, 1940 on the east coast of Denmark. Anna’s father abandoned the family when she was a baby, and her mother was neglectful. Anna spent much of her childhood in and out of foster homes or staying with her grandparents. She dropped out of school at 14 years old.
Anna grew to love the magic of movies during nights at the cinema.. When she was 17, Anna hitchhiked from Copenhagen to Paris, determined to make it as a performer.
Anna spent her early days in Paris burning through her meager savings. She floated around the city, looking for work and spending long hours in movie theaters. Tickets were cheap, and she watched the same films over and over to learn French.
One day, a modeling agent spotted the teenage girl at a popular Left Bank cafe. She asked Anna to join an upcoming ad campaign for blue jeans.
The agent later admitted: “She was really dirty. But she had an incredible gaze that seemed to devour everything around her.”
Anna didn’t love modeling — she had a hard time sitting still. But the jobs helped her get a foot in the door.
Anna described one particularly important meeting at a photo shoot like thi s: “This woman came in with a big hat, she was 66 or 65 or something like that, but very beautiful!”
The beautiful woman in the hat told the teenage model that her Dutch name wouldn’t work if she wanted to be an actress. She suggested Anna Karina, after Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina.”
Anna didn’t realize that the chic woman was actually fashion royalty. She recalled: “Afterwards, everybody told me it was Coco Chanel.”
Anna’s modeling days came to an end after director Jean-Luc Godard stumbled upon her in a cinema ad for Palmolive Soap. He offered her a small role in his film “Breathless,” but Anna refused. Why? The part required full nudity.
“I don’t want to take my clothes off,” she told the director.
Months later, Godard reached out again, this time with a leading role in “The Little Soldier.” It was a serious film about terrorism in the French-Algerian war. And Godard promised Anna wouldn’t have to strip. She said yes.
Anna went on to star in seven of Godard’s films from 1961 to 1966, including the beloved New Wave film “Band of Outsiders.” Anna thrived on Godard’s eccentric sets, where actors usually received dialogue mere minutes before the cameras started rolling. Film audiences loved her earnest style and infectious youthful energy.
Godard loved her too — and not only as a muse. The two quickly fell in love while they made their first film together.
Anna said, “Little by little we [became] attracted to each other. We had something very special that you couldn’t get away from. It was magnetic.”
Anna was 20 — ten years younger than Godard — when they married in 1961. Off screen, life got difficult. Anna suffered a miscarriage and struggled with suicidal thoughts. Godard became unreliable.
Anna later remembered, “He would say he was going out for cigarettes and then come back three weeks later. And at that time, as a woman, you didn’t have any check books, you didn’t have any money…I was sitting around the apartment without any food.”
The couple divorced in 1965. Anna went on to be married three more times. Her last marriage in 1982 with director Dennis Berry lasted until her death.
Anna kept starring in films but never again worked with Godard. She also had a brief but successful singing career with a few late 1960s French radio hits.
In 1973, Anna made her directorial debut with the largely ignored “Living Together,” a film about a tumultuous love affair. In 1983, she published “Golden City,” the first of four novels she would write during her lifetime. In 2008, Anna directed her second and final film “Victoria,” about a woman with amnesia.
As she grew older, Anna became more outspoken about the poor treatment actresses endured in 1960s cinema.
She told an interviewer in 2016, “If you were a woman, you didn’t really have a voice. If you were a woman, it was just: ‘Be beautiful and shut up.’”
But she always looked back fondly on her work with Godard and never hated being called his “muse.”
Anna said, “It sounds so pompous. But of course I’m always very touched to hear people say that. Because Jean-Luc gave me a gift to play all of those parts.”
Anna died in a French hospital on December 14, 2019. She was 79 years old.
All month, we’re highlighting muses. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!