Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

One Hundred and One Nights 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.

It might go without saying that only someone of Agnès Varda’s singular temperament and artistic sensibilities could have made One Hundred and One Nights, and that aspect may redound either positively or negatively for some viewers, depending on how tolerant they are of some of Varda's more eccentric tendencies. This is another Varda piece that is ostensibly a fictional narrative outing, but which also has a certain documentary flavor courtesy of an almost insane number of film clips Varda interpolates into the proceedings, not to mention a nonstop array of cameos from a whole host of real life international film luminaries. The basic story here involves a supposed centenarian named Simon Cinéma (Michel Piccoli. adorned in a perhaps unfortunate wig that makes him look for all the world like an elderly version of the Dutch Boy of paint logo fame). It's the conceit of One Hundred and One Nights that Simon Cinéma, kind of like either Zelig- or Forrest Gump, has found himself at the center of any number of epochal developments in the history of film. (The movie's original French title was in fact Les cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma).

This is a film which has such abundant whimsy that it may suffer from overkill for some, but for others willing to go with a rather forceful flow, there are some intriguing film clips and references to film in the dialogue, along with a "spot the star" technique where you're never quite sure who is going to show up next, and in what kind of guise. There's a playful, carnival-esque atmosphere as a result, though Varda at least attempts to deliver a plot of sorts, which once again gives Mathieu Demy, Varda's son with Jacques Demy, a plum and pivotal role as a young would be filmmaker (modeled after his father?) who seeks support from Simon.

One Hundred and One Nights Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

One Hundred and One Nights is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. Some prefatory text discloses that this was shot on 35mm argentic color stock in a 1.66:1 format, which was restored by Ciné Tamaris in 2014 at Laboratory Eclair, with a 2K restoration from a 2K scan of the original negative. Color grading was supervised by Agnès Varda. This is another largely gorgeous looking transfer with a nicely suffused palette and some very appealing detail levels. While things do have a slightly cool look at times , this doesn't offer the same level of blue undertone that some other films in this set do, despite the fact that blues are rather prevalently used in the production design. But primaries here can pop extremely well, as in the red shirt and, later, red jacket that Marcello Mastroianni wears. Fine detail on the kind of baroque assortment of tchochkes around Simon's house is typically great. Grain resolves naturally for the most part, but there are a couple of pretty noticeable spikes, as in a club scene, where things can look a little gritty at times. There are quite a few film clips scattered throughout the proceedings, and those show understandable variances in quality.

One Hundred and One Nights Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

One Hundred and One Nights features an LPCM 2.0 track in the original French that renders the film's dialogue and score without any problems whatsoever. The soundtracks of some of the films that are being "screened" or talked about can sometimes play underneath the actual dialogue, but prioritization is well handled throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

One Hundred and One Nights Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Fun Moment with Michel Piccoli (1080i; 8:38) is a short from 2004 with Varda and Piccoli. In French with English subtitles.


• Set Visits (1080i; 11:04) offers Varda narrating some candid footage of some of the many stars who have cameos in the film. In French with English subtitles.


• Trailer (1080i; 1:54)


• Hands and Objects: On Agnes Varda's Shorts (1080i; 20:11) is a 2007 piece by Anne Huet with Varda discussing some of her short films. In French with English subtitles.


• Unfinished Varda

  Films

  La Melangite (1080i; 3:47)

  
  

  Christmas Carole (1080i; 4:34)

  Commercials, 1971

  Collants Minuit (1080i; 00:46)

  
  

  Tupperware (1080i; 1:34)

One Hundred and One Nights Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Maybe after having gotten through a staggering ten discs of Varda features and shorts by the time I got to One Hundred and One Nights, "resistance (was) futile", as a certain alien force once proclaimed to Starfleet, but I actually enjoyed the dizzying array of films and cameos that this outing offered. This is Varda at her most eccentric, which is saying something, so I frankly could understand some viewers simply feeling overwhelmed by this entry. Technical merits are solid, and the supplementary package very appealing. Recommended.