Anna Karina
Anna Karina (born Hanna Karin Blarke Bayer September 22, 1940) is a Danish born film actress. Her father was a ship's captain. Before Anna turned one, he had left her mother. After being raised by her maternal grandparents, where she stayed until the age of four, she spent time in and out of foster homes, before returning to live with her mother from the age of eight. She has described her childhood as "terribly wanting to be loved" and made numerous attempts as a child to run away from home.
She began her career in Denmark, where she sang in cabarets and worked as a model playing in commercials and short films. She came to Paris in 1958 at age 17 where she met Pierre Cardin and Coco Chanel, who convinced her to change her name to Anna Karina. As a rising fashion model, she was noticed by Jean-Luc Godard then a film critic for the Cahiers du cinéma. Her first film appearance, although unauthorized, dates from 1959, when a soap advertisement in which she appeared as a model was included near the end of Guy Debord's On the Passage of a Few Persons Through a Rather Brief Unity of Time. The image was accompanied by Debord's voice-over "The advertisements during intermissions are the truest reflection of an intermission from life." According to Godard's biographer, Colin Macabe, Godard was in the middle of casting his debut feature film A bout de souffle Breathless that same year when he saw Karina in a series of Palmolive ads in a bath covered in soapsuds. He offered her an important part in the film, which she turned down because of a nude scene. When Godard questioned her about her refusal, referring to the supposed nudity in the Palmolive ads she is said to have replied "Are you mad? I was fully clothed in those ads the soapsuds went up to my neck. It was in your mind that I was undressed." The character Godard had reserved for her did not appear in the film. However, she eventually accepted his offer to play a major role in Le Petit Soldat (1960). Godard and Karina married on 3 March 1961 during the shooting of Une femme est une femme (they were divorced in 1968). The marriage was covered by Paris Match where a smiling Anna Karina embraced the cover dating from 25 March 1961. Anna Karina was awarded best actress at the Berlin Film Festival in 1961 for her interpretation of the character Angela in the film Une femme est une femme. Her acting career was not however limited to Godard's films, and she went on to a successful collaboration with other well-known directors. Her role in Suzanne Simonin, la Religieuse de Diderot (1967) by Jacques Rivette is considered by some as her best performance. She also acted in Luchino Visconti's L'Etranger.
In 1973 she made her directing debut in Vivre Ensemble in which she also acted. She wrote and acted in Last Song in 1987. More recently, she appeared in Haut, Bas, Fragile (1995) by Jacques Rivette and sang in The Truth About Charlie.
Anna Karina has also maintained an important singing career. At the beginning of the 1960s, she scored a major hit with "Sous le soleil exactement" and "Roller Girl", both songs taken from the musical comedy "Anna" by Serge Gainsbourg in which she sings seven songs alongside Serge Gainsbourg and Jean-Claude Brialy. More recently, she recorded an album entitled "Une histoire d'amour" with Philippe Katerine, which was followed up by a concert tour. Anna Karina has also written a novel and made several appearances on television.
Filmography, as actress, includes
Moi César, 10 ans 1/2, 1m39 (2003)
The Truth About Charlie (2002)
Nom de code: Sacha (2001)
Haut, bas, fragile (1995)
Manden der ville være skyldig (1990)
L'oeuvre au noir (1988)
Cayenne Palace (1987)
Dernier été à Tanger (1987)
Last Song (1987)
Blockhaus USA (1986)
Treasure Island (1985)
Ave Maria (1984)
L'Ami de Vincent (1983)
Anna Karina and Sady Rebbot in Vivre sa vieRegina Roma (1982)
Ausgerechnet Bananen (1980)
Historien om en moder (1979)
Olyan mint otthon (1978)
Chaussette surprise (1978)
Chinesisches Roulette (1976)
Les Oeufs brouillés (1976)
L'Assassin musicien (1975)
L'Invenzione di Morel (1974)
Pane e cioccolata (1973)
Vivre ensemble (1973)
The Salzburg Connection (1972)
Carlos (1971)
Rendez-vous à Bray (1971)
L'Alliance (1971)
Le Temps de mourir (1970)
Laughter in the Dark (1969)
Justine (1969)
Michael Kohlhaas - Der Rebell (1969)
Before Winter Comes (1969)
The Magus (1968)
Lamiel (1967)
Zärtliche Haie (1967)
Lo Straniero (1967)
Le Plus vieux métier du monde (1967)
Made in U.S.A. (1966)
La Religieuse (1966)
De l'amour (1965)
Le Soldatesse (1965)
Pierrot le fou (1965)
Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (1965)
La Ronde (1964)
Le Voleur de Tibidabo (1964)
Bande à part (1964)
Dragées au poivre (1963)
Un mari à un prix fixe (1963)
Le Petit soldat (1963)
Les Quatre vérités (1962)
Shéhérazade (1962)
Le Soleil dans l'oeil (1962)
Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962)
Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux (1962)
She'll Have to Go (1962)
Une femme est une femme (1961)
Ce soir ou jamais (1960)
Pigen og skoene (1959)
Discography
2004 Chansons de Films
2000 Historie d'Amour
1967 Anna
Quotes: Things said to or about Anna
"Her smile reminded me of old vampire films." - Lemmy Caution in his thoughts, Alphaville
"Have you seen a girl who looks like a film in Technicolor?" - Ferdinand to a passerby, Pierrot Le Fou
"I think you are very nice. You have great goodness in your eyes." - Paul to Nana, Vivre Sa Vie.
"You seem to be thinking dark thoughts." - Franz to Odille, Bande A Part.
Anna Karina Quotes
"Why must one talk? Often one shouldn't talk, but live in silence. The more one talks, the less the words mean."
"People always look so sad in the subway."
"I think we are always responsible for our actions. We're free. I raise my hand, I'm responsible. I turn my head, I'm responsible. I am unhappy, I'm responsible. I smoke, I'm responsible. I shut my eyes, I'm responsible. I forget I'm responsible, but I am."
"When boys think about girls, they think about their eyes, their legs, their breasts. Girls think about boys in exactly the same way."
"Shut up. Or I'll smack your face so hard, you won't have a face to shut."
"Suddenly, I don't know what to say. It happens often to me. I know what I want to say, I think about whether it is what I mean, but when the moment comes to speak, I can't say it."
"After all, things are what they are. A message is a message, plates are plates, men are men, and life is life."
Trivia
Same birthday as actress Catherine Oxenberg.
Friends with actresses Bernadette Lafont, Macha Meril, Alexandra Stewart and Francoise Brion.
Has written three novels.
Appeared in a short film when she was 14, which later won a prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Studied dance and painting in Denmark.
Fluent in five languages French, Danish, English, Swedish and Italian.
Has worked with film directors such as Agnes Vardas, Roger Vadim, Valerio Zurlini, Jacques Rivette, George Stevens, Volker Schlöndorff, George Cukor and Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Friends with Jean-Claude Brialy and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
In 1972 set up a production company named Raska.
Recorded the soundtrack album for her TV musical film Anna (1966) with songs written by Serge Gainsbourg and accompanied by her co-star and friend Jean-Claude Brialy on the vocals in a couple of songs.
