Agnes Varda: Interviews

Conversations With Filmmakers Series

by T. Jefferson Kline (Editor), Agnès Varda (Contributor )

Over nearly sixty years, Agnes Varda (b. 1928) has given interviews that are revealing not only of her work, but of her remarkably ambiguous status. She has been called the -Mother of the New Wave- but suffered for many years for never having been completely accepted by the cinematic establishment in France. Varda's first film, La Pointe Courte (1954), displayed many of the characteristics of the two later films that launched the New Wave, Truffaut's 400 Blows and Godard's Breathless. In a low-budget film, using (as yet) unknown actors and working entirely outside the prevailing studio system, Varda completely abandoned the -tradition of quality- that Truffaut was at that very time condemning in the pages of Cahiers du cinema. Her work, however, was not -discovered- until after Truffaut and Godard had broken onto the scene in 1959. Varda's next film, Cleo from 5 to 7, attracted considerably more attention and was selected as France's official entry for the Festival in Cannes. Ultimately, however, this film and her work for the next fifty years continued to be overshadowed by her more famous male friends, many of whom she mentored and advised.

Her films have finally earned recognition as deeply probing and fundamental to the growing awareness in France of women's issues and the role of women in the cinema. -I'm not philosophical, - she says, -not metaphysical. Feelings are the ground on which people can be led to think about things. I try to show everything that happens in such a way and ask questions so as to leave the viewers free to make their own judgments.- The panoply of interviews here emphasize her core belief that -we never stop learning- and reveal the wealth of ways to answer her questions.

Genres: Film, Art, Media Tie In, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chronological interviews with the brilliant and engaging Agnes Varda. Insight into the evolution of her filmic style, philosophy of film and her subjects. I appreciate her work.

[Timothy Sedlacek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly straightforward journey through some moments in the career in the greatest of all filmmakers. A treat for Varda enthusiasts to see how her relation to the medium and the world evolved over time. Particularly of note are moments when she reflects back on her last films, sometimes with quite different articulation than she did at their release.

The one downside to this books is that it ends after Beaches of Agnes (2008), and thus lacks the final decade of her life - particularly important since she is without equal in artistic growth and constant self-interrogation.

[Jona Meijer · Rating 5 out of 5]

agnes varda mensen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nu na een jaar alle interviews gelezen, ik heb denk ik nog nooit zoveel aantekeningen gemaakt in een boek

[Ana Levisky · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I always wait to be sure that my mind is oriented, my desire, my energy. I work from inspiration, I don't do deals, do business. I don't even make a career you know, I make films."

[Jenina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally finished, after almost a year since I began this book.
The silver lining takes form with Agnes Varda’s work :D

“I don’t care. I’m strong. I’m bright in my own way. I have a different scale of values.”

[Referring to The Gleaners] “What is the left of consuming, but tenderness and peace with people.”

“I don’t want luxury, I don’t care about luxury. I love what I did, walking in the fields for hours, being tired in a way, speaking, I love that.”

“I mean, a woman working with her intuition and trying to be intelligent. It’s like a stream of feelings, intuition, and joy of discovering things. Finding beauty where it’s maybe not. Seeing. And, on the other hand, trying to be structural, organized; trying to be clever.”

[Mina-Louise]

I had nearly finished this collection of interviews, when this along with my suitcase ended up lost leaving CDG.
Varda was a genius, and I remember while reading I kept thinking how lucky I felt to have been moved by her works (while she was alive) and to have been able to share that with people I love.

[sang ooh · Rating 5 out of 5]

阿涅斯的海滩：瓦尔达访谈录
惊讶于瓦尔达的质朴与善良，她从未侈谈什么，而只是包容和接纳，愿多多赐福于这样的作者，这样的人，我很喜欢瓦尔达的cinécriture电影写作的概念，我现在越来越觉得，曾经中国精英头脑里的先锋派或者实验，其实都是某种本能的技术，完全不需要过度强调，就像cinécriture绝非某种蹈术。

[Maite · Rating 3 out of 5]

Agnes Varda my beloved

[Jessie Mccarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful. agnes is magic and youthful