Anna Karina, the French New Wave icon, has died at age 79, leaving behind an indelible body of cinema’s most charming and even radical work — including director Jean-Luc Godard’s “A Woman Is a Woman,” “Pierrot Le Fou,” “Alphaville,” “Vivre Sa Vie,” “Band of Outsiders,” “Le Petit Soldat,” and more.
Karina, who was born in Denmark and became a symbol of cinematic counterculture, died on Saturday in Paris. Reportedly, she died of cancer, according to her agent, Laurent Balandras. Karina’s last film was 2008’s “Victoria,” which she also wrote and directed. This was her second and final feature behind the camera following 1973’s “Living Together.”
Karina’s loss leaves a huge hole in the filmgoing community, and many have taken to Twitter to make tribute to the actress; see below. IndieWire spoke with Anna Karina in 2016 about her many storied collaborations with Jean-Luc Godard.
Rest In Peace, the truly iconic Anna Karina, star of Une femme est une femme, Vivre sa vie, Pierrot le Fou, Alphaville and this, one of the most utterly charming dance sequences in all of cinema. (From Bande à part) https://t.co/dstmM9motM
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) December 15, 2019
Her image sold a fantasy of women to generations of cinephiles but Anna Karina lived way past that. Honoured to have witnessed both the fantasy and the real woman in action. 💙 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/EJzhhcsPe6
— Cameron Bailey (@cameron_tiff) December 15, 2019
I don’t think there was anyone in movies I wanted to be more than Anna Karina. She got to fall in love with Jean-Paul Belmondo!! Devastated. I pretty much have been trying to emulate her level of cool all my life. The first time I saw A WOMAN IS A WOMAN was a game changer for me. pic.twitter.com/ltyy152vgL
— Michelle Buchman (@michelledeidre) December 15, 2019
To Anna Karina – no muse, an icon & director in her own right, in a wave of filmmakers who were yes cool, stylish & funny but also fearlessly political. The entire medium of movies fell in love with her. She smiled at me once and I’ll probably remember it when it’s my turn to go. pic.twitter.com/bTUxPGHzIs
— Aaron Stewart-Ahn (@somebadideas) December 15, 2019
God. Losing Anna Karina feels like losing cinema itself. Or at least the final nail in the coffin of the ‘60s. Her collabs with Godard constitute as mind-blowing a run of director-actor pairings as any such team-up ever. And each of her roles is so different. pic.twitter.com/gpEuWagdVp
— Christian Blauvelt (@ctblauvelt) December 15, 2019
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