My Life to Live

The film is divided into 12 "episodes", each preceded by an intertitle. Nana Kleinfrankenheim, a beautiful 22-year-old Parisian, leaves her husband Paul and her infant son, hoping to become an actress. The couple meet in a café and play pinball one last time before deciding to end their marriage. Now working in a record store, Nana struggles to earn enough money on her own. She tries to borrow 2,000 francs from several co-workers, but they all refuse. To make matters worse, Nana's landlady throws her out of her apartment for not paying rent. The next day, Nana meets with Paul, who gives her pictures of her son to keep for herself. Paul invites her to dinner, but Nana declines and explains she is seeing a film with another man. They watch The Passion of Joan of Arc, moving Nana to tears. After the film, Nana ditches her date to meet with a man who promised he would take photos to promote her acting career. When asked to undress for the photos, Nana reluctantly complies. Nana is questioned in a police station for trying to steal 1,000 francs from a woman on the street, who dropped the money in front of her. Nana returned the money out of guilt, but the woman still pressed charges. Walking down a street, Nana notices a female prostitute. A man asks Nana if he can join her, assuming she is also a prostitute; she agrees and they go to a hotel room. Nana asks him for 4,000 francs. He gives her 5,000 and says she can keep the change. Nana is visibly uncomfortable as he attempts to kiss her on the lips. Nana runs into a friend, Yvette, and they go for lunch at a diner. Yvette reveals that she became a prostitute after her husband abandoned her and her son, as it was the easiest way to make money without him. Yvette introduces Nana to her pimp, Raoul, who is also at the diner. Nana impresses Raoul and the three play pinball when, suddenly, a police shootout ensues outside. A bloodied man who has been shot runs inside, prompting Nana to flee the diner. Sometime later at a restaurant, Nana writes a letter asking for work (presumably as a prostitute) to an address Yvette gave her, describing herself and her physical features. Raoul sits down next to her and advises her to stay in Paris, where he can help her make more money. Nana agrees to work for him and they kiss. She quits her job at the record store and abandons her dream of becoming an actress. Raoul explains the basics of prostitution to Nana, including how to conduct herself, how much she charges and earns, when and where she works, the laws and what to do if faced with an unintended pregnancy. Nana soon begins to attract several clients. On one of Nana's days off, Raoul takes her to meet his friends at a bistro, where she dances to a song playing on a jukebox. The men are mostly uninterested, except for a young man playing at a billiard table who buys her a pack of cigarettes. While on the street, Nana picks up a client and takes him to a nearby hotel. The man requests she ask other prostitutes in the hotel to join them, but once one does, the client no longer wants Nana to join, so she sits on the edge of the bed and smokes. Nana is now a seasoned prostitute and blends in with the others on the streets. She is in a hotel room with the young man she had met earlier at the bistro, who reads aloud a passage from "The Oval Portrait" by Edgar Allan Poe. As Nana and the young man express their mutual adoration, she decides she wants to live with him and quit prostitution. When Nana confronts Raoul, they argue, as he was planning to sell her to another pimp. Raoul forces Nana into his car and drives her to the pimp's meeting place. However, the transaction falls through and Nana ends up being killed in a gun battle. The pimps flee the scene, leaving Nana's body lying on the pavement.