Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Seen again almost 40 years after the film was first shown on French TV, "Anna" strikes the imagination with its blend of smiling superficiality and its visual creativity. In a way, it is a cousin film of Antonioni's "Blow up", but its deep concern is to fully commit itself in remaining on the edge of things, enjoying a beautiful winter sun light, wondering when and where I will find love, chasing images... The film music, written by Serge Gainsbourg, is very consistent, far from the sheer collections of accumulated songs that most musicals consist in nowadays. Despite its given impression of being improvised, it is also the result of a very thorough visual and cinematic work, with a lot of attention put into colors and lights, which look still stunning today. Last but not least, it seems to have paved the way to bigger productions such as Bob Fosse's "All That Jazz". "Anna" is a fascinating witness of the 1960's culture in Europe.

This made for TV movie was shown several times a day, all summer long, at the Pavillon Français, Expo 67, in Montreal. My big sister used to go and watch it everyday, so much that she knew all the songs, the plot etc. I must admit that I became a big fan too. I was 11 and my sister was two years older. The movie has become part of our childhood memories. It's not an exceptional movie, but it reached us at a time of our lives when we were discovering the world and it has stayed with us. The theme song: "Sous Le Soleil Exactement" (Under the Sun, Exactly) was sung by main actress, Anna Karina, who was ADORABLE! I would LOVE to buy a copy, if one could be found, either in VHS or DVD. That would make a great present for my sister.