Introducing Agnès Varda

Biography•  Born1928inBrussels

•  StudiedphotographyandarthistoryatEcoleduLouvre

• WorkedasphotographerforThéâtreNationalPopulaire

•  Currentlyinstallationartistandphotographeraswellasfilmmaker

Imagesource:SensesofCinema

“Mother”oftheFrenchNewWave

•  LaPointeCourte(1954)•  MadebyVarda’sown

productioncompany,Ciné‐Tamaris,withoutVardaundergoingapprenticeshipandcredentialingprocessdictatedbyFrenchfilmindustry

•  NarrativestructurefromFaulkner’sTheWildPalms

•  FocusedonneighborhoodincityofSète,inwhichshehadlivedasteenager

•  ViewedasprecursortoFrenchNewWavefilmsinblendofdocumentaryandfiction,mixtureofneorealistaestheticsandhighculturalartifacts,andself‐reflexivity

StillfromLaPointeCourte(1954).Imagesource:CriterionCollectionDatabase

SelectedFilmography

Documentary/Autobiography

•  L'Opera‐Mouffe(1958)

•  TheGleanersandI(2000)

Fiction

•  Cléode5à7(1961)

•  LeBonheur(1964)

•  OneSings,TheOtherDoesn’t(1976)

•  Vagabond(1985)

•  KungFuMaster(1987)

Experimental

•  Lion’sLove(1969)

Vardaworkingacross(andintegrating)

multiplecinematicgenres

Varda’sCinécriture

•  Literally“cinematicwriting”

•  InterestinfilmicwritingplacingVardawithinLeftBankgroupoffilmmakers,buthervisiondistinct

•  ForVarda,cinécritureinvolvescompositionofscreenplay,cast,location,camerapositionandmovement,editingrhythm,andsoundtocreatespecificmeanings

Imagesource:Reverseblog

VardaonCinécriture

“Awellwrittenfilmisalsowellfilmed,theactorsarewellchosen,soarethelocations.Thecutting,themovement,thepoints‐of‐view,therhythmoffilmingandeditinghavebeenfeltandconsideredinthewayawriterchoosesthedepthofmeaningofsentences,thetypeofwords,numberofadverbs,paragraphs,asides,chapterswhichadvancethestoryorbreakitsflow,etc.Inwritingit’scalledstyle.Inthecinemastyleiscinécriture”(qtd.inAlisonSmith,AgnèsVarda,14).