Yahoo News Icon of French cinema Anna Karina dies aged 79
Anna Karina, the French New Wave actress who became an icon of cinema, has died aged 79.
The Danish-French actress died in a Parisian hospital after battling cancer, her agent said.
French culture minister Franck Riester tweeted: “Her look was the look of the New Wave. It will remain so forever.
“Anna Karina radiated, she magnetised the entire world. French cinema has lost one of its legends.”
She gained fame through making seven films with Jean-Luc Godard, her former partner, in the 1960s, going on to spend five decades on screen, often sidestepping Hollywood roles for daring projects.
Her role in the 1961 classic Une Femme Est Une Femme earned her best actress at the Berlin Film Festival.
Other cult Godard movies starring Karina included the 1962 Vivre Sa Vie (Live Your Life) and the 1965 Pierrot le Fou (Pierrot the Madman).
The French New Wave broke with traditional cinematic conventions to create a fresh approach to making movies, in keeping with the free-spirited times.
Born in Denmark as Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer, she initially modelled and sang in cabarets before moving to France.
Her marriage to Godard in 1961, despite lasting only four years, became as iconic as the films she starred in, seeing her become a fashion icon for her unique sense of style and wispy fringe.
The 1962 Vivre Sa Vie (Live Your Life), and Pierrot le Fou (Pierrot the Madman) in 1965 were among the other films under her belt.
She also appeared in Jacques Rivette’s 1966 film La Religieuse (The Nun), adapted from the 18th-century French novel by Diderot.
It was initially banned under French censorship laws for depicting the story of a mother, who had given birth out of wedlock, forcing her child to become a nun.
But it was revived in a restored version and presented at the 2018 Cannes film festival.
Her final role was in the 2008 musical Victoria, which she wrote and directed.
Tributes flooded in for the icon on Sunday. Film company Tribeca said she “magnetised our gaze and took our breath away”.
Richard Brody, a biographer of Godard, tweeted an anecdote of when he met Karina, “swarmed” by fans, saying he was “very proud” to have met her.
Others online hailed her a “cinematic legend” and remembered “her grave and lasting joy”.
