One of France's well known filmmakers Agnès Varda brought her latest film to TIFF last night at the Varsity theatre. In Les Plages d'Agnès, we are taken on a journey through Varda's life both personal and professional.Varda's
style is sublime. She uses still photography, family video footage,
scenes from her films and those of her partner, Jacques Demy to create
a tapestry that is her life; keeping the theme within her love of beaches. And what an amazing life she's enjoyed
thus far. As she told us last night, "I keep in good mood. I like to
make a clown of myself... I'm supposed to slow down but I wont'." This
film is a confirmation of her great talent and creativity not just as a
filmmaker and storyteller but as an artist, in every sense of the word.The
audience loved the film, as evident by the standing ovation for Varda.
I saw Atom Egoyan give Varda his best and congratulating her on this
film. Varda was gracious and humble. She had a calm energy about
her. When asked if she knew how the film would unfold, she simply said
"no. Everything got built by chance, by opportunity." In sharing her
personal memories and deep feelings for Jacques Demy, she wanted to
show how a relation has to go up and down as well as what it was like
to grow old together.Varda went on to admit, she's "not totally
satisfied with the film. I'm not totally sure it's finished. I'll go
back to do a little more editing." She took the time to ask the
audience if they found parts of the film too boring. "I'm afraid to bore people." But there was no answer, which meant no one believed it to be boring or too long. If you are curious about Varda's life or have yet to know much of and about her, this film is a nice way to start. It screens again today, Thursday, Sept 11th at 6:15PM. |