Agnes Varda

I'm thinking she must be someone really important for there to be such a lavish box set of all her films released.

I purchased this box set and the Fellini one. I've only watched her first film La Pointe Courte and it was breathtaking in how she broke so many rules while at the same time having a similar quality to Italian Neorealism cinema. I could tell that she had a photography background because her composition was superb. She made a film with a shoestring budget look high quality.

And I learned that this movie was released in 1954, predating the New Wave, so technically she is the godmother of the French New Wave. I can't wait to dive in deeper into her oeuvre. So far I'm liking what I'm seeing.

She made some really great films. "Cleo from 5 to 7" is a must. "Le Bonheur" is chilling and thought-provoking.

I'm debating on whether or not to pick the set up while the Criterion sale is still on.

Has anyone seen "One Sings, the other Doesn't?"

Over-rated New Wave wannabe. She was married to Demy, who was tres closeted and died of AIDS in 1990. Agnes finally outed her late husband in her film Jacquot de Nantes. Her son Matieu looks just like his father, but doesn't have his talent, either in directing or acting.

I really like her documentaries, they're mostly about herself but I think they are quite enjoyable!

I’ve seen Lyons Love with Warhol’s actress Viva. It was enjoyable. I think I’ll watch Cleo today. I wish Viva was in more films.

[quote] Over-rated New Wave wannabe.

I've been reading that she was unsung during her days as a French New wave filmmaker. She's made over 22 films and I'm surprised I've never heard about her until recently.

No love for her homoerotic Beau Travail?

Film school canon. Would you rather sit through an entire semester of Robert Bresson, or Varda? The answer is no and no.

OOOPS! Wrong Fench woman.

[quote] Over-rated New Wave wannabe.

How is she a wannabe when her debut film in 1954 was the precursor to the New Wave?

As one critic once said, if Jean-Pierre Melville is the Godfather of the New Wave, Agnes Varda is certainly its Godmother.

Vagabond is a good film but incredibly bleak.

Madame X was a huge fan.

Her name is an anagram for 'vagina rag'.

CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 has a very annoying and cutesier-poo leading lady, but it's worth a look for Paris in 1962 and Michel Legrand's turn. In general, her films are pretty "twee."

The whole oeuvre is up at the Criterion Channel.

R15 I remember hearing that Madonna wanted to star in a remake "Cleo from 5 to 7." This was back during her "Sex" book tour.

Madonna wanted to remake everything. But she couldn't act.

Varda made the first real documentary about the Black Panthers in the 60s

Beau Travail was Claire Denis, R10, not Varda. Seems to me like she went out of her way to de-homosex Beau Travail. Melville was less discreet. I liked it though.

[quote]Would you rather sit through an entire semester of Robert Bresson, or Varda?

I know a lot of people find his works slow-going, but I find Bresson's films absolutely riveting & deeply moving.

The only movie of Varda I've seen was Cleo. Perhaps one has to be really in the mood for her films when watching, or maybe I started with the wrong film, but I was underwhelmed.

[quote]As one critic once said, if Jean-Pierre Melville is the Godfather of the New Wave, Agnes Varda is certainly its Godmother.

Now Melville is a filmmaker I really like.

"Vagabond" was sad and very well acted. I give Varda credit for tackling a wide range of subjects (and styles) over her long career, even if she sometimes struck out. I don't have the box set, but it looks good.

Was she the one who put Anais Nin in a birdcage?

Of course Bresson is a master but a semester of nothing but.... (Typing from experience...)

Varda is fine enough. Plus there is the nostalgia factor now, as with Godard. (Also had an entire semester of Godard - grrrrrrrr)

She was great as Mango on Saturday Night Live!

An unboxing of the Agnes Varda blu-ray collection.

R27 Such unlikely fans. The best part is around the 5:44 mark when they start sniffing the box.

R11 Sitting through a semester of Besson or Varda sounds fine to me!! Am I really supposed to hate Besson because he's "slow"? Might as well shit on Ozu, too, at that rate. I find his films immensely watchable.

We never got the Madame X version of Cleo, but this SJP abomination was some sort of a remake of it.

She's definitely having a moment right now. Nobody ever talked about her up until a few years ago.

I saw Cleo from 5 to 7 on TCM not too long ago. It's not exactly gripping but I enjoyed it (especially, as someone else says above, for the views of Paris in the early 60s).

R31 You mean in the US right? Because Agnes Varda was alwas an icon in Europe.

I went ahead and purchased the box through Barnes & Noble since it was half off. Looking forward to watching these movies.

I'm glad you made this thread, OP.

I saw Faces Places and loved it, but have never seen her work and would really like to catch her films.

Tedium. More Tedium.

And yet even more tedium.

R35 Enough about you, doll.

Nuda. Więcej nudy.

A jeszcze bardziej nudne.

I have not seen many of her films. Vagabond was a big hit while I was in college but I did not go.

HOWEVER

Cleo from 5 to 7 is one of my absolute favorite films. I rewatch it every now and then and find something new. It is funny and moving.

Cleo is a French pop singer who is supposed to pick up the results of a biopsy at 7. At 5 she sees a tarot reader and turns over the death card. She cries and moans like a DL veteran. But over the course of the next two hours comes to an acceptance of herself and life.

This trailer has no subtitles but it gives you an idea of how the film feels (and how many costume changes Cleo has).

Agnes Varda is Michelangelo Antonioni minus the couture dresses.

By the way, Cleo is in the Criterion Collection. It is not in the boxed set so it costs less.

(I have some of those Eclipse boxed sets and they generally are not as good as the ones that are part of the main collection.)

R27 What are those kids going to do when they grow up and have to make living?

R38, we should be dating. And I promise I don't cry and moan!

You dolls can spritz the perfume to watch the movie.

I wish I knew what Pink lotus, jasmine sambac and agarwood smelled like.

[quote] By the way, Cleo is in the Criterion Collection. It is not in the boxed set so it costs less.

Thankfully Cleo has been restored and available in the latest Blu-ray box set. Cleo was the film that put her on the map.

I'm even enjoying Varda's short travel documentaries, mostly due to how beautiful they look. Her films in color are eye-popping.

I did not realize that they had a complete Varda. I thought there was just the two Eclipse collections.

I hate that they do not have it on DVD. Blu ray does not make much difference with older films and I do not want to buy a blu ray drive for my computer.

R46 Really? I love watching older films (filmed on FILM) on blu-ray, if they've been properly been restored. They look marvelous on blu-ray (Self MARY!), but then I also don't watch films on my computer...

I had a TV but my computer screen is so much larger that I eventually stopped using the TV.

The sound is better too.

R46 Blu-ray makes a huge difference.

The box set is fantastic!

I watched "One Sings, the Other Doesn't" which is sort of a 70's feminist, hippie musical about the women's movement and abortion.

R51 It's on my DVR from the Women in Film series on TCM recently. How is it?

R52 I enjoyed the first half of it more, as the second half focused more on the music. Great story about a friendship between two women told over time. I read that this wasn't Varda's best, but I was most interested in the period of time that this took place and all the costumes I had seen in the still photos.

Going to watch "Cleo From 5 To 7" for the first time tonight.

I love her work. Her films look and feel lush, comparable to Éric Rohmer.

One Sings, the Other Doesn't:

What was going on with Jean luc Goddard in that bards documentary when he ghosted her when she arrived at his home in Rolle, Switzerland having taken the train from France. He leaves a note on his door telling her he won’t meet her, and she starts crying. I felt so bad for her, but the whole documentary seemed scripted... so I don’t know what to believe. She’s dead now; I hope he feels a little bad for being such an asshole.

bump