Background

Varda was born Arlette Varda on 30 May 1928 in Ixelles (Brussels), Belgium, the daughter of Christiane (née Pasquet) and Eugène Jean Varda, an engineer. Her mother was French and her father came from a family of Greek refugees from Asia Minor. She was the middle of five children. When she was 18 Varda legally changed her name to Agnès.

Education

When she was a teenager, she left Belgium in 1940 and fled to Sète, France to live with the rest of her family. She studied art history and photography at the École des Beaux-Arts. She went on to work for the Théâtre National Populaire as a photographer. Varda became a student at the Sorbonne and the École du Louvre and became a still photographer.

Career

As the official photographer of the Théatre National Populaire from 1951 to 1961, she discovered an interest in both theatre and film. Varda’s first film, Le Pointe courte, proved her to be an original artist. Varda’s second feature, Cleo de cinq à sept (1961; Cleo from 5 to 7), an introspective and intellectual film, displays the influence of the New Wave. It is an intimate account of a pop singer who sees the world around her with a new vision while she waits for the results of a medical examination that will tell her if she is suffering from a terminal illness.

In 1964, Varda directed Le Bonheur (Happiness), an abstract picture of happiness that was to be her most controversial film. Les Creatures was released in 1966, and her most popular films of the next two decades were L’Une chante l’autre pas (1976; One Sings, the Other Doesn’t) and Sans toit ni loi (1985; Without Roof or Law, or Vagabond).

In the 1990s and into the beginning of the 21st century, Varda continued directing. Her most highly acclaimed films from this period were Les Cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma (1995; A Hundred and One Nights of Simon Cinema), about an old man with a love for movies, and Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse (2000; The Gleaners and I), an intimate look at French country life.

Works

More photos

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  • Four by Agnes Varda (La Pointe Courte / Cleo from 5 to 7 / Le bonheur / Vagabond) (The Criterion Collection)

    (Four by Agnes Varda (La Pointe Courte / Cleo from 5 to 7 ...)

  • Eclipse Series 43: Agnès Varda in California

    (Eclipse Series 43: Agnès Varda in California: Agnès Varda...)

  • The Gleaners and I (English Subtitled): Agnès Varda, François Wertheimer, Bodan Litnanski: Amazon Digital Services LLC

    (Buy The Gleaners and I (English Subtitled): Read 46 Movie...)

  • Agnes Varda: From Here To There: Agnes Varda, Chris Marker, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Manoel de Oliveira: Amazon Digital Services LLC

    (Buy Agnes Varda: From Here To There: Read 1 Movies & TV R...)

  • Beaches of Agnes: Agnes Varda

    (Buy Beaches of Agnes: Read 11 Movies & TV Reviews - Amazo...)

  • Cleo from 5 to 7: Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dorothée Blank, Michel Legrand

    (Buy Cleo from 5 to 7: Read 49 Movies & TV Reviews - Amazo...)

  • Daguerréotypes: Agnès Varda

    (Buy Daguerréotypes: Read 4 Movies & TV Reviews - Amazon.com)

  • Daguerreotypes

    (Daguerreotypes: Agnes Varda: Movies & TV)

  • Jane B. par Agnes V.: Agnès Varda, Jane Birkin, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Philippe Léotard

    (Buy Jane B. par Agnes V.: Read 1 Movies & TV Reviews - Am...)

Personality

Varda's work is often considered feminist because of her use of female protagonists and creating a female cinematic voice. Many of her films use protagonists that are marginalized or rejected members of society, and are documentarian in nature.

Like many other French New Wave directors, Varda was likely influenced by auteur theory, creating her own signature style by using the camera "as a pen." Varda describes her method of filmmaking as cinécriture (cinematic writing or "writing on film"). The term was created by merging "cinema" and "writing" in French. Rather than separating the fundamental roles that contribute to a film (cinematographer, screenwriter, director, etc.), Varda believes that all roles should be working together simultaneously to create a more cohesive film, and all elements of the film should contribute to its message. She claims to make most of her discoveries while editing, seeking the opportunity to find images or dialogue that create a motif.

Because of her photographic background, still images are often of significance in her films. Still images may serve symbolic or narrative purposes, and each element of them is important. There is sometimes conflict between still and moving images in her films, and she often mixes still images (snapshots) in with moving images. Varda pays very close attention to detail and is highly conscious of the implications of each cinematic choice she makes. Elements of the film are rarely just functional, each element has its own implications, both on its own and that it lends to the entire film's message.

Connections

In 1958 while living in Paris, she met her husband, Jacques Demy, also a French actor and director. They moved in together in 1959. She was married to Demy until his death in 1990. Varda has two children - a daughter, Rosalie Varda-Demy with Antoine Bourseiller and a son, Mathieu with Jacques Demy.

Varda is the cousin of painter Jean Varda. In 1967 while living in California Varda met her father's cousin for the first time. He is the subject of her short documentary Uncle Yanco, named after Jean Varda who referred to himself as Yanco and was affectionately called "uncle" by Varda due to the difference in age between them.

Father:

Eugene Jean Varda

Mother:

Christiane (Pasquet) Varda

Spouse:

Jacques Demy

child:

Rosalie Demy Varda

child:

Mathieu Demy Varda