Celebrity Death: French Film Director Agnes Varda, 90

[kihei]

A founding figure of the French "Nouvelle Vague," Agnes Varda continued to make fascinating, original, personal films until the end of her life. An early film, La Pointe Courte (1954) is considered by some to represent the birth of the "new wave," and she went on to critical and popular acclaim for films such as Cleo from 5 to 7, Le Bonheur and The Young Girls of Rochefort. Shaping the documentary form to meet her own ends, Varda evolved as a director as her films became a means of deeply personal reflection, her way of exploring and commenting on the immediate world around her. Her most recent release Faces, Places, a beautiful collaboration with muralist and photographer JR, received an Academy Award nomination in the documentary category in 2018, and she has two more films waiting to be released in 2019. One of the great humanists of French arts, Varda created a body of work that is both innovative and distinguished.

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[Ralph Spoilsport]

Damn.

Might sound crazy to say "gone too soon" for a 90-year old, but Agnes had as much energy and vibrancy in Faces Places as her partner over half a century younger. Productive and engaged right 'til the end. It really seemed she'd live to 100, if not forever.

RIP et merci.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Shaping the documentary form to meet her own ends, Varda evolved as a director as her films became a means of deeply personal reflection, her way of exploring and commenting on the immediate world around her.

She really found herself in the "personal journal" documentary form. Tough to not think of Les glaneurs et la glaneuse as a masterpiece. Really enjoyed Les plages d'Agnès too.

 

[Puck]

I only saw her only in the film Faces, Places, nominated for an Academy Award a year ago. She was a spry, very personable, nice human being, a very 'young' older lady as Ralph Spoilsport alludes to.

RIP