The Beaches of Agnès

(2008)

★ 7.7 IMDb · 146 votes

Genres: Documentary

Year: 2008

Runtime: 110 мин

Country: France

Director: Agnès Varda

Cast: Agnès Varda, André Lubrano, Blaise Fournier, Vincent Fournier, Andrée Vilar, Stéphane Vilar, Christophe Vilar, Rosalie Varda, Mathieu Demy, Christophe Vallaux

Plot

Filmmaking icon Agnès Varda, the award-winning director regarded by many as the grandmother of the French new wave, turns the camera on herself with this unique autobiographical documentary. Composed of film excerpts and elaborate dramatic re-creations, Varda's self-portrait recounts the highs and lows of her professional career, the many friendships that affected her life and her longtime marriage to cinematic giant Jacques Demy.

At nearly 80, Agnès Varda explores her memory - growing up in Belgium, living in Sète, Paris, and Noirmoutier, discovering photography, making a film, being part of the New Wave, raising children with Jacques Demy, losing him, and growing old. She explores her memory using photographs, film clips, home movies, contemporary interviews, and set pieces she designs to capture a feeling, a time, or a frame. Shining through each scene are her impish charm, inventiveness, and natural empathy. How do people grow old, how does loss stay with them, can they remain creative, and what do they remember? Memory, she says, is like a swarm of confused flies. She envisions hers for us.