THE BEACHES OF AGNÈS, a documentary-memoir of French filmmaker Agnès Varda October 30, 2009

The magnificent new film from Agnès Varda (Cleo From 5 to 7, Vagabond, The Gleaners and I) is a kind of cinematic autobiography—an innovative and whimsical journey through an extraordinary artistic life. Weaving together footage of her vast body of work, old photographs and present-day sequences with intimate anecdotal voice-overs, Varda looks back on her childhood, her work as a photographer and installation artist, her marriage to late filmmaker Jacques Demy, and the birth of the French New Wave. Varda is an avid collector of people and places, sensual experiences and intellectual preoccupations, personal commitments and political principles. She is a mother and wife, a feminist, nature-lover and urban-dwelling artist. Above all, she is a woman in love with cinema whose new movie perfectly expresses her sentiment, “While I live, I remember.” Featuring Jean-Luc Godard, Catherine Deneuve, Chris Marker (who only appears in his cat persona), Alain Resnais, Harrison Ford, Jane Birkin, Michel Piccoli, Gérard Depardieu and Jim Morrison.

Winner, Best Documentary, Cesar Awards, 2009
Winner, Best Film, French Film Critics Union, 2009

4 stars “A great, loving, uplifting film” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The film’s running time is 100 minutes; it is not rated. In French with English subtitles.