Written by Katherine McLaughlin and Rhett Bartlett
Translator: Issac
Proofreader: Onegin
Source: BFI, Hollywoodreporter
Just yesterday, Agnès Varda, the most influential female leader of the French New Wave, left us at the age of 90.
Agnès Varda
Her family confirmed that after a brief battle with cancer, Varda died at her home in Paris accompanied by relatives and friends.
Known as the "Grandmother of the New Wave", Agnès Varda received the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement and was nominated for Best Documentary in just three months from 2017 to 2018.
The Belgian-born director was originally a cinematographer and was later designated as the official cinematographer of the National Theatre des Nationales de France. She had her first child named Rosalie when she was dating Antoine Bourcerje.
Rosalie starred in Varda's Cleo at Five to Seven and later as a producer for Faces, Villages. In 1962, Varda married the famous French director Jacques Demi and gave birth to a son named Matthew. Demi spent forty years with Varda until his death in 1990 from complications from AIDS.
Jacques Demi and Varda
"I knew I was a pioneer," she told The Hollywood Reporter's Greg Kierdy in November 2017, "I made The Short Angle Affair in 1955, and what they called the New Wave began in 1959 and 1960. When I made my debut, I had nothing to do with the film industry, I didn't know anyone, I didn't even watch movies. So all of a sudden I created a movie, and even though I didn't make any money, that's what I wanted to do."
For many fans, Varda is a spiritual banner, always dealing with the most difficult social issues with her own wisdom and humor, but many may not know her well.
Below, let's take a look at the guide given by BFI, which is the fastest way we can walk into Agnès Varda and get to know her step by step.
Why it doesn't seem easy to understand her
Agnès Varda, known as the "grandmother of the French New Wave" and a pioneer member of the Left Bank, may be a throwback, but in fact her work is very approachable. The director's curiosity and interest in marginalized societies and female subjects, combined with her background as a professional photographer, makes her work interesting and sharp political.
Agnès Varda (right) and Corinne Marchand on the set of Cleo at May to Seven
She coined a new word for her films, called "film writing," to illustrate her unique narrative technique. Unlike many of her peers, Varda didn't start on this path as a fan.
Instead, she relies on her imagination to draw inspiration from literature, music, art, images, real life, cats, and heart-shaped potatoes. Of her subjects, she says, "I love photographing real people; I like connecting with people we don't know well."
The Beach of Agnès
Her films are either some kind of exploration, or provocation, or an effort to understand society and human nature, which are her hallmarks, but Varda refuses to aimlessly stick to a single genre or style. For more than sixty years, she has switched freely between narrative feature films, documentaries and short films.
Her work may be self-concerning, showing the deepest part of her heart, but her empathetic, naughty and cute films also contain rich and detailed historical details.
"Face, Village"
"Opportunity has always been my best friend," Varda says. It could be in Los Angeles, Normandy, or even on the Rue Daguerre in Paris where she lives (her home has appeared in many of her films, or has been repeated as a scene), and wherever she can express her free spirit, she can always skillfully use that place, community, family, and friends to seek inspiration.
For some, her approach may be a bit arbitrary, but it adds charm to her films, unusual and contagious.
Best to start here: Cleo at Five to Seven
Varda's second feature film was 1962's Cleo at Five to Seven, a film that, on the surface, seems somewhat simple. The film depicts singer Cleo (Corinne Marchand) anxiously waiting for a medical report in real time.
Cleo at Five to Seven
While she waited, she went to visit old friends, watch short videos, take a walk in the park, and she did everything she could to distract herself. This French New Wave classic is a true account of Paris in the early sixties, with a multi-layered structure that also profoundly reflects the inner life of a woman who fears death.
There are many such complex female characters in Varda's fictional films, and Cleo is just one of them.
What's next?
Perhaps Varda's best-known mid-career work was The Fallen Woman (1985), an emotionally charging film that mixes reality and fiction and provokes reactions by forcing viewers to question their sense of social responsibility.
The film has won numerous awards and has also been well received for its confrontational approach. Varda says it was the first time she felt her political views intersect with filmmaking and ended perfectly.
"The Fallen Woman of the End of the World"
The film about truth focuses on Mona, the beautiful rebel, for no reason. At the beginning of the film, Mona is found dead in the trench, and the film immediately tells the story of her homeless last days of wandering. Sandrina Bonaire plays Mona, who speaks foul language and never apologizes, and her superb acting skills are irresistible.
Varda visited many tramps (some of which appear in the film) to make the film. We also see this particularly moving moment when an older gentleman talks to a homeless woman and discovers that the two have more in common than expected.
Another important film by Varda was the feminist song and dance film One Sing, One Not Sing (1977).
The film will forever be classic for its theme of representing women's own bodies as their own. It should touch the nerves of the modern audience. At the heart of the film is the beautiful friendship between women. The two women shared their interests with each other with their most intimate secrets, and in the end, one of them helped raise money for an abortion.
"One Sings, One Doesn't Sing"
The film is based on real-world conditions and once again underscores Varda's strong political convictions. It was another protest against the 1972 Bobini abortion trial, which also depicted the supporting character Giselle Erimi, who spoke for those who publicly confessed to having had an abortion and supported Simone de Beauvoir's manifesto, which was signed by 343 women, including Varda.
One of Varda's most meaningful documentaries, "The Gleaner" embraces new technology, uses a handheld digital camera, uses form and angle, consciously cares about society, and conducts a meditation on art and consumerism.
The Gleaner
Jean-François Miller's oil painting The Gleaner gave her some inspiration, and she also saw people looking for food in closed wet markets. Varda also interviews people who rely on scavenging for a living and reject social norms, looking for some kind of commonality along the way.
Now that you should have a general idea of Varda, let's take a look at her The Beach of Agnès (2008).
This contemplative work of describing the self should pique your interest. The film is a brilliant overview of her career and her love of the beach, interspersed with film footage and her upbringing in Seth, where her debut film, The Short Corner Affair (1955), was also made.
"The Short Horn Affair"
These include footage from Jacques Demi of Nantes, a touching childhood autobiography of Varda that pays homage to her late husband Jacques Demi; "Rue da Grey" (1976), which depicts a local parisian shophouse; and "The Record Liar" (1981), which depicts a character in Los Angeles in a natural and intimate way, played by her son, Matthew Demi.
It's better not to start with this one
Varda's third feature film, Happiness (1965), was a very sharp film, but the film caused controversy at the time of its release because it depicted a male utopia where infidelity was not a big deal and women were interchangeable.
"Happiness"
Varda's film in the lush gardens of Île-de-France, a beautiful landscape that even the Impressionists marveled at, while this paradise for men is a dystopian world for women who are submissive.
If you're not familiar with Varda's sense of humor, the film can confuse or even anger you, with some arguing that Happiness is an anti-feminist work. However, the visual effect of the film's asana suggests another meaning, showing happiness.
As Varda himself put it, "Humor is such a powerful weapon, an answer." Women have to have fun with themselves and make fun of themselves, because they have nothing to lose."