1962: Vivre sa vie: Film en douze tableaux (My Life to Live)

Nana, who can't make it in film despite having featured in an Eddie Constantine picture (injoke!), is short of money, and we witness her quick descent into prostitution and worse, driven by Michel Legrand's memorable theme music. Godard's unusual use of the camera both in terms of movement and framing, remindful of La passion de Jeanne d'Arc (which we see Nana watching), is the main feature that sets this film apart, although for my taste in one scene it is woefully overdone. (7.5)