Episode 208: Agnes Varda's House of Cinema

## Show Notes

We discuss the career of writer/director Agnes Varda and focus on her films Cleo from 5 to 7, One Sings the Other Doesn't and The Beaches of Agnes.
## Films Discussed

* Directed by Agnes Varda
	+ *La Pointe Courte* (1955)
	+ *Cléo de 5 à 7* (aka Cléo from 5 to 7) (1962)
	+ *L'Une chante, l'autre pas* (aka One Sings, the Other Doesn’t) (1977)
	+ *Sans toit ni loi* (aka Vagabond) (1985)
	+ *Le petit amour* (aka Kung Fu Master) (1987)
	+ *Jacquot de Nantes* (aka Jacquot) (1991)
	+ *Les Cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma* (aka A Hundred and One Nights) (1994)
	+ *Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse* (aka The Gleaners and I) (2000)
	+ *Les plages d'Agnès* (aka The Beaches of Agnes) (2008)
	+ *Visages Villages* (aka Faces Places) (2017)
* *People on a Sunday* (1930) Dir. Robert Soidmak & Edgar G. Ulmer
* *Breathless* (1960) Dir. Jean-Luc Godard
* *Masculin Féminin* (1966) Dir. Jean-Luc Godard
* *Murmur of the Heart* (1971) Dir. Louis Malle
* *Manhattan* (1979) Dir. Woody Allen
* *Into the Wild* (2007) Dir. Sean Penn
* *That's My Boy* (2012) Dir. Sean Anders

## Discussion Notes

* Agnes Varda - everyone’s favorite adorkable directorial figure
	+ A charming and delightful woman who tried to spread joy and happiness, followed her own passions, and never aimed to be commercial
	+ The anti-Godard – never interested in making conventionally narrative films, interested in
		- Experimentation and pushing the medium as far as it would go, and expressing her creative interests, accessible
	+ Part of the Left Bank, not technically part of the French New Wave
	+ Has amazing film titles in French, not so great in English
* *Cléo de 5 à 7* (aka Cléo from 5 to 7) (1962)
	+ Has the sense of a young filmmaker excited at the possibilities of the medium
	+ A film in love with cinema, a ‘city symphony’
	+ Devoid of erotic undercurrent that filled much of the French New Wave
* *L'Une chante, l'autre pas* (aka One Sings, the Other Doesn’t) (1977)
	+ Follows a friendship between two women over a decade
	+ Made after Varda followed her husband around in the US
	+ Surprisingly warm for being ‘the abortion film’
* *Sans toit ni loi* (aka Vagabond) (1985)
	+ Broken mirror image to *L'Une chante, l'autre pas*
	+ Varda believed feminism only works if women collaborate together, alone their goals cannot be achieved
	+ Documentary-style fourth wall breaks to tell the story
		- Shows Varda’s love of balance of fiction and realism
* *Le petit amour* (aka Kung Fu Master) (1987)
	+ A story of love between an older women and an adolescent boy - not a lot of kung fu!
	+ Strange and uncomfortable, but enjoyable - works thanks to the acting and ambiguity
* *Les Cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma* (aka A Hundred and One Nights) (1994)
	+ Little loved and a financial failure
	+ A bunch of movie jokes and stars playing themselves
		- Likely impenetrable to non-cinemaniacs
* *Les plages d'Agnès* (aka The Beaches of Agnes) (2008)
	+ Part of her shift to essay films and cinematic self-portraits
	+ Traces her life and career structured around beaches and waterfronts
	+ Contains the through-line that was prevalent in her later films - preserving the memory of her husband

## Listener Letters

* Steven
	+ Interrogating our hosts feelings on Bob Hope
		- They should check out *The Cat and the Canary, The Ghost Breakers, Road to Morocco,* and *The Princess and the Pirate*
		- Will has seen *Casanova’s Big Night* and *Son of Paleface*
	+ Are there other comedians our hosts have turned around on?
		- Justin - Steve Odenkirk & *Kung Pow! Enter the Fist*
			* A perfect audience of two folks busting a gut and one looking on stone-faced
		- Will - W.C. Fields
			* Turned around when he associated Fields with his grandfather
	+ Any film fan must eventually face the speedbump of contextualizing the past
	+ Is *Freddie Got Fingered* one of the best films ever made?

## Post-Outro Discussion

* What have our hosts been watching in quarantine?
	+ *Born to Fight* (2004) Dir. Panna Rittikrai
		- Some of the most dangerous stunts ever committed to film
	+ *Come Live With Me* (1941 Dir. Clarence Brown
		- Fluffy but very good - solid entertainment that no one knows about
	+ *Nicky Larson and Cupid's Perfume* (2019) Dir. Philippe Lacheau
		- A boob-and-butt-obsessed detective goes on wacky adventures
		- French adaptaion of the manga/anime series City Hunter
	+ *First Name Carmen* (1983) Dir. Jean-Luc Godard
		- Favorite film of Robert Pattinson
		- Funny and accessible for 80s Godard
	+ *The Circus* (1928) Dir. Charlie Chaplin
		- A pure delight
	+ *Passion* (2012) Dir. Brian De Palma
		- Justin, not a true De Palma auteurist - “PU!”
	+ Have our hosts been having streaming parties?
		- Will had an *Austin Powers* screening
		- The issues with virtual viewings
			* Use earphones and crack down on the MST3K’ing