Faces Places

“She’s 88, and makes films like she’s 28. They’re a tonic—just watching them makes you feel younger…Agnès Varda, in the glory of her golden years, has become a humanist magician.”—Variety

Nearly 90 and going strong, Agnès Varda remains one of cinema’s greatest living legends. “The only woman permitted entry into the boys’ club of the French new wave,” today she’s counted among “a counter-tradition of critical and creative thinkers that includes Chris Marker, the novelist and art critic John Berger, Patti Smith, and other artists who defy the usual categories” (New York Times).

For her latest masterpiece, Varda teams up with the 34-year-old graffiti-artist-turned-street-photographer JR (think of a French version of Banksy) to create this incredibly charming and moving,road movie. Described simply, this documentary follows the pair as they travel through villages of the French countryside to meet people and make portraits of them. However, the result is a digressive, irresistible fusion of the personal and the populist; a warm-hearted portrait of two curious souls; and a meditation on the power of art to bring people together. As essential and enjoyable as movies get! (89 mins., DCP)