Agnès de ci de là Varda Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Agnès de ci de là Varda Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 31, 2020

Note: This film is available as part of The Complete Films of Agnès Varda.

In the wake (figurative or otherwise) of Agnès Varda’s death last year at the age of 90, quite a bit has rightfully been written about this iconic force in both French and global cinema. Varda’s output includes well over fifty credits as a director (including some television entries as detailed by the IMDb), and aside from listing some of her better known triumphs, many obituaries and/or eulogies about Varda mentioned any number of other biographical data points, including her rather unique position as a woman in France’s nouvelle vague movement, her own feminism which was featured none too subtly in some of her films, and her frequently provocative experimental style. But you know what one of the things that kind of fascinates me personally most about Varda? That she was married for 28 years to Jacques Demy, from 1962 until Demy’s death in 1990. That Varda, often a purveyor of verité infused “realism”, whether that be in outright documentaries or at least ostensibly more “fictional” outings, and Demy, a director whose candy colored, dreamlike and at least relatively "Hollywoodized" musicals with Michel Legrand brought a new luster and gloss to French cinema, managed to make a marital go of it for so long is certainly testament to the maxim that “opposites attract”, even if those oppositional forces in this instance played out at least in part in terms of what kinds of films the two were often best remembered for. If Varda's long marriage to Demy is more than enough reason to celebrate her personal life, her professional life is beautifully feted in this rather astounding new set from Criterion, which aggregates an amazing 39 films (albeit some running as short as a few minutes) to provide what is arguably one of the most insightful overviews of Varda's cinematic oeuvre. Perhaps unavoidably, but also undeniably movingly, these personal and professional sides of Varda merge in at least some of the films in this set, including The Young Girls Turn 25, The World of Jacques Demy, Jacquot de Nantes, and The Beaches of Agnès.

The Beaches of Agnès caught Agnès Varda circa 2008, and Varda by Agnès captured her around a decade or so later, while the fun if perhaps unavoidably predictable at times miniseries Agnès de ci de là Varda aired in France toward the end of 2011. (If the IMDb is to be believed, it evidently premiered in Portugal of all places a couple of months before its French airing, though that said Portugal is one of many places Varda visits in this piece.) This five part series finds Varda to be exactly the kind of globetrotting, jet set habitue grandmother that one might hope for in one's personal life, and she comes off as a slightly (and maybe more than merely slightly) eccentric character who would make a perfect passerby in a film by Agnès Varda.

Varda's keen intellect is frequently on display here even in rather mundane, everyday moments, but what sets this miniseries apart is a really fascinating array of notable figures in some visual arts in particular who drift in and out of the five episodes. And in fact Agnès de ci de là Varda offers at least a peek at some of Varda's "extracurricular" activities away from filmmaking per se, activities which link into things like paintings and/or photographs that are featured in various episodes. But the miniseries also is a bit of a "grand tour" as it travels from location to location, becoming something of a travelogue in the process.

Fans of Varda who have previously seen either The Beaches of Agnès or Varda by Agnès may find some of the material here has unavoidably been either referenced or outright covered in those other, at least somewhat similar, outings. But for those wanting to get to know Varda on a perhaps more intimate way as a veritable traveling companion, Agnès de ci de là Varda is often sweet and at times even thought provoking.

Agnès de ci de là Varda Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Agnès de ci de là Varda is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer (often) in 1.78:1 (archival video and film clips can affect aspect ratios, as should be expected). As mentioned above, this was produced for television in 2011, and as such, at least the contemporary interview segments, of which there are plenty, have more of the polished, sleek, native high definition look of relatively modern video presentations. Almost all of the contemporary globetrotting material features really nicely sharp and well detailed looking imagery, with fine detail on elements like the peeling stucco in Varda's Paris courtyard looking virtually palpable. The palette in the contemporary sequences is also natural looking and nicely suffused. The documentary does offer film clips of differing qualities, but on the whole, this is a spectacular looking piece.

Agnès de ci de là Varda Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While Agnès de ci de là Varda is the longest offering in this collection to have only lossy audio, it at least offers a Dolby Digital 5.1 track that does open up rather nicely in a lot of the outdoor material in particular where ambient environmental sounds can help to establish spatial relationships. All of the talking head material is delivered without any problems whatsoever. Optional English subtitles are available.

Agnès de ci de là Varda Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Perhaps because of its longer than usual running time which may have been deemed sufficient for this disc by the powers that be, this is one of the few features or shorts included in this collection which does not come with any on disc supplementary material.

Agnès de ci de là Varda Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Agnès de ci de là Varda is a completely charming piece, even if at least some of its content is also covered in some of the other "Varda- centric" documentaries included in this collection. This is in some ways the best way to "get to know" Varda as an individual instead of just as a titan of contemporary French cinema, and it's a lot of fun to tag along with her as she globetrots from location to location. Technical merits are generally solid, though the lossy audio may bother some. Recommended.