Quick takes on Daguerréotypes and other Varda films

A couple months ago I started getting into some Agnès Varda films, which I found hit or miss. Today I’m going to write about some of her documentaries, and a couple films interrelating to those docs. That’ll make sense if you read through. I’m starting off with Daguerréotypes, a 1976 picture about the people working on Rue Daguerre, the street where Varda lived. This movie works kinda backwards. We see the people working first without knowing who they are: interacting with customers and whatnot. Later, there are some quick interviews about the how’s and the why’s the people work there. Later still, there are more in-depth questions, and we learn how the couples met (most of the shops have spouses working together), and we really get to know them. I think building the movie this way was a wonderful idea. If the film had started with those last interviews, it may have been boring, but by the time we get to them, I wanted to know more about these people living, working, coming, and going on this quaint, bustling little street in Paris. ★★★★

Mur Murs (literally “wall walls” in French, but a better translation would be “mural murals”), from 1980, visits the famous murals of Los Angeles. Varda starts in Venice, and then works her way around the city, interviewing the artists and community leaders about the art representing them on the building facades. She spends a lot of time on the minority groups represented, especially hispanic and black, touching on gang influence as well as a host of other topics. Some of the best interviews are with the business owners who commissioned some of the work for the sides of their buildings. There’s some beautiful art on display, and Varda always gives credit to the artist of each painting, but the film ran long for me. I’m not a big art lover anyway, and after awhile, it all started to run together on me. Still, a pleasant viewing. ★★★

Documenteur: An Emotion Picture is a companion film to Mur Murs, with a lot of those murals showing up throughout this picture. In fact, it begins at the same mural that was the closing shot of the previous film. This movie follows a French woman named Emilie, who is living in LA and trying to get by as a single mother with her son. Her marriage has recently ended, but we don’t know how or why, only that she is now alone. Emilie has been relying on friends for places to stay, but she has overstayed her welcome, and so she and her son have to find a place of their own. Not being able to afford much, they end up in a rundown tiny apartment in a not-so-great area of town. They furnish it with tables and chairs left out in the trash by their neighbors. There’s not much of a plot here, it’s just poor old Emilie and her listless son, trying to pick up the pieces and start anew. Besides the physical setting, there are other comparisons to Mur Murs as well. In once scene of Murs, a painter noted that while his mural mirrored the street behind him, there were no people on his painting; it was an empty street. That sense of loneliness and isolationism permeates this film. Some people will really dig this sparse picture, but it wasn’t for me. ★½

Jane B par Agnès V is another documentary, with Agnès interviewing her good friend Jane Birkin. Birkin was a big name in the 60’s and 70’s, but in 1988, she had just turned 40, and was not handling it well, wondering where her career would go as she got up there in years. This movie takes a peak at that vulnerability, while also freelancing in a way, to show off Birkin’s skills. For instance, if she or Agnès mentions a possible movie scene, the film cuts to Jane acting it out, in costume and on location, as needed, sort of like a “what if?” sequence. And towards the end, someone mentions the possibility of Jane playing other famous Jane’s, so we see scenes of her as Calamity Jane, Tarzan’s Jane, and Joan of Arc. Sometimes playful, sometimes introspective, it’s a solid doc about a person who loves attention, maybe craves it, but doesn’t always like the aspects that go with it. My only knock against the film is it can come off a bit pretentious at times, but with 2 powerhouse women who are fully aware of their skills, I guess that’s to be expected. ★★

While filming the above movie, Jane brought up an idea she had for a new film, about a teenager and adult woman who fall in love with each other. Agnès loved the risqué idea, and they took a break from Jane B par Agnès V to write it together and film it, with Varda directing. In Kung-Fu Master! (called Le petit amour in France), Jane plays a version of herself, with her real-life kids and parents cast as her family. In the film, Mary-Jane is smitten by a friend of her daughter’s, Julien (portrayed by Agnès’ real-life son, Mathieu Demy). Julien is only 14 or 15, but the 40-year-old Mary-Jane falls for him hard, and starts finding excuses to be near him. For instance, she hunts down a video game arcade further away from school which has his favorite game, the title of the film, just so the two can be together without risk of Mary-Jane’s daughter or someone else seeing them. Their relationship really goes up a notch when Mary-Jane takes her toddler daughter on a vacation and brings Julien along, to a remote island where no one can interrupt. Reality of course crashes down on them when they return, and we learn that while Mary-Jane was very much in love, Julien was just a typical horny teenager. Though on screen, we only see hugs and kisses, we know what is going on, making the whole thing very uncomfortable to watch. It’s a good movie, but its taboo subject matter is hard to stomach, otherwise I’d rate it higher. ★★★

• TV series currently watching: Star Wars The Clone Wars (season 6)
• Book currently reading: Into the Forest by Mark Danielewski