"Agnès Varda's sprightly late-career documentary The Gleaners and I (2000) is more complex than it first appears. The film follows foragers of all forms, from dumpster diggers to oyster scavengers, while drifting into meditations on waste and art. Varda becomes a gleaner in her own right, gathering images and ideas that most wouldn't give a second glance."
"Ever the flâneuse (a meandering observer, often on foot), Varda pioneered a new form of documentary in The Gleaners and I. She called it a "wandering road documentary," emphasizing small notes of beauty amid subtle social commentary and accentuating the camera's presence. (Working with a handheld Sony camera, Varda sometimes turns the lens onto her own aging hand.)"
"Varda described her directorial method as cinécriture, roughly translating to "cinema-writing" and emphasizing the writerly intentionality embedded in every stage of filmmaking. Fans of W.G. Sebald and Rachel Cusk's observational genre-bending will get it."
Agnès Varda's 2000 documentary The Gleaners and I follows foragers of various kinds—from dumpster diggers to oyster scavengers—while meditating on waste and art. Varda herself becomes a gleaner, collecting images and ideas others overlook, embodying a philosophy of restless curiosity. The film pioneered a new documentary form Varda called a "wandering road documentary," emphasizing small moments of beauty alongside subtle social commentary while making the camera's presence visible. Using a handheld Sony camera, Varda sometimes turns the lens on her own aging hand. Her directorial method, cinécriture or "cinema-writing," emphasizes writerly intentionality throughout all filmmaking stages, appealing to fans of observational, genre-bending work.
Read at Portland Mercury
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