The Life of Agnes V.

French director Agnes Varda’s The Beaches of Agnes (Cinema Guild) is one of the most charming and memorable “my life in film” documentaries I’ve ever seen. Now 81, Varda—a diminutive woman whose personality and talent go way beyond her small stature—has seen enough in her lifetime to stuff several full-length films with endless anecdotes and place- and name-dropping. From Jim Morrison and Harrison Ford to the Black Panthers and Jacques Demy (a director who became her husband), Varda’s relationships mark a truly amazing life, and her film—filled with reminiscences and witty asides—illuminates her cinematic career. Although she’s alternated great films like Vagabond with trash like Kung Fu Master, Varda herself is an exquisite artist, and The Beaches of Agnes—like her earlier documentary The Gleaners and I—proves that again and again. The movie is, ultimately, a poignant portrait; the DVD extras comprise two behind-the-scenes featurettes and Varda’s own self-effacing short, Le Lion Volatil.
originally posted on timessquare.com