Documentarian, feature filmmaker (Criterion put out a great four piece collection of hers titled 4 by Agnès Varda), wife of filmmaker Jacques Demy and la grand-maman of the French New Wave, permanent art-house resident Agnès Varda recently treated herself to a reflection on her life…in her own words. For the 80 year-old filmmaker, life is a beach, or perhaps a series of beaches and for French critics The Beaches of Agnès was a worthy enough to be crowned with the Cesar for Best Documentary and the Best Film of the Year by the French Critics’ Union.
Beginning a two-week run at the Film Forum (July 1st), the director reflects upon her life by starting at the beginning with her childhood in Brussels and adolescence in occupied Paris, moving up until L.A. in the ‘60s, and of life in her 14e arrondissement Paris neighborhood are melded with clips from both documentary and fiction work. Husband/filmmaker Jacques Demy, who died in 1990, is an abiding presence.
In her own words the filmmaker says the “idea came to me one day,
on a beach in Noirmoutier, when I realized how many other beaches had influenced my
life. These beaches are the thread through which I chose to describe, to friends, family,
and others, some of my work and the events of my life.” I’m not sure what The Cinema Guild have in store for this unique documentary about a unique voice in filmmaking, but I would say do like what I will do: try and see a pair of her films and get ready for this doc which after Gotham, it will most likely received a limited release in theaters this summer. Here is the poster one sheet.
