Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Spoiler-free premise
Across twelve tableaux, Parisian shop assistant Nana leaves husband and child, pursues acting, and enters sex work.
Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free+
Nana, a young Parisian woman separated from husband and child, leaves record-shop work hoping to become an actress. Twelve titled tableaux follow financial pressure, cinema, cafés, street encounters, and her gradual entry into prostitution under pimp Raoul.
Why it belongs
Jean-Luc Godard makes Nana both observed image and thinking subject through tableaux, direct sound, philosophy, and Karina's unguarded face.
Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case+
Chapter cards, café backs, jukeboxes, Dreyer's Joan of Arc, street sound, dance, interviews, and abrupt editing continually change the terms of looking—Anna Karina's face resists being reduced to sociological example.
Major award wins
No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.
Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Good for
Film Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.
Institutional reference ranks
Sight & Sound157IMDb Top 250—AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score
Great Cinema Master List scores
Greatness9.1
Engagement7.8
Ease6.2
French · Not Rated Narrative Feature Mood: Absorbing & Reflective
