The Complete is dedicated to taking chronological journeys through the most rewarding filmographies in cinema. Each season covers one director, with each episode focusing on one feature film from their catalog. The first season was dedicated to Stanley Kubrick, while the second season covered Elaine May, the third focused on Krzysztof Kieślowski, and our fourth season covered Satoshi Kon. Our current season explores the films of Agnès Varda.
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The Complete is dedicated to taking chronological journeys through the most rewarding filmographies in cinema. Each season covers one director, with each episode focusing on one feature film from their catalog. The first season was dedicated to Stanley Kubrick, while the second season covered Elaine May, the third focused on Krzysztof Kieślowski, and our fourth season covered Satoshi Kon. Our current season explores the films of Agnès Varda.
Matt and Travis wrap up their Varda journey with a very special guest. Valeria Rotella produced the bible that was used throughout this season: The Complete Films of Agnès Varda from the Criterion Collection. We discuss her own relationship with … Continue reading →
Varda’s final film is the summation of her career – literally. As with her penultimate work, this documentary was prompted by Varda’s daughter Rosalie, who suggested that Agnès tell her own story rather than have someone tell it for her. … Continue reading →
Varda’s most well-known film from the last two decades of her life, Faces Places is a film collaboration with artist J.R. A warm both of a film, Faces Places is an exploration of the French countryside and the unexpected combination … Continue reading →
A running theme with Varda’s 21st century work is the unusual nature of its conception and/or execution, and From Here to There plays right into this pattern. Created out of Varda’s own recordings of her travels and encounters with artists … Continue reading →
For the 21st episode of season five, Matt and Travis cover one of the most extraordinary autobiographical documentaries in film history, The Beaches of Agnès. We discuss Varda’s love of beaches, her unusual and free-flowing structure, and her uncanny ability … Continue reading →
Varda’s 20th feature is as unusual as her stitched-together 19th. Created as an installation piece and converted into a television special, Some Widows of Noirmoutier is a straightforward yet profoundly moving documentary. In this episode, Matt and Travis discuss this … Continue reading →
Matt and Travis encounter an unusually constructed film: Cinévardaphoto, a set of three shorts stitched together to create a feature that could be shown in theaters and distributed on DVD. The first two of these films, Ulysse and Salut les Cubains, … Continue reading →
The Complete Varda 18 – The Gleaners and I Matt and Travis move into the 21st century with Varda’s pivotal The Gleaners and I. A massive success upon release in France, Varda’s first digital feature created a media frenzy and … Continue reading →
Matt and Travis welcome friend of the pod William Remmers to the show to discuss Varda’s final narrative fictional feature, One Hundred and One Nights of Simon Cinema. Created in celebration of the French’s conveniently defined 100th birthday of film, … Continue reading →
Varda completed her trilogy of tributes to her husband with the most straightforward of the three: a documentary covering Demy’s career and his impact on cinema. As expected, however, Varda at her most straightforward is still a little off-kilter, so … Continue reading →
On this episode, we cover an unusual entry in the Complete catalog: not just a bonus feature, but a bonus feature created for someone else’s movie. Varda revisits her husband’s 1967 film The Young Girls of Rochefort on the 25th … Continue reading →
Created in the final months of husband Jacques Demy’s life, Varda’s fourteenth feature is one of her most emotionally resonant and visually sumptuous works. On this episode, Matt and Travis discuss the film’s multi-faceted structure as a fictional recreation of … Continue reading →
On the thirteenth episode, Matt and Travis tackle the second half of Varda’s diptych with Jane Birkin. After taking a look at our own unease with the subject matter of this controversial fictional film based on a short story Birkin … Continue reading →
On the twelfth episode, Matt and Travis welcome longtime Friend of the Show Ericca Long back to discuss Varda’s idiosyncratic portrait of actress, model and icon Jane Birkin. Along with many tangential topics including modern arcades, getting older, and the … Continue reading →
On the eleventh episode, Matt and Travis welcome Alex Kittle to discuss Vagabond, one of Varda’s most successful and praised films. Alex is a projectionist at the Brattle Theater, one of the greatest and most important repertory theaters in America, … Continue reading →
On the tenth episode, Matt and Travis discuss Documenteur, Varda’s fictional feature pairing with her documentary Mur Murs. A self-described “emotion picture,” Varda’s final film in Hollywood is semi-autobiographical. We discuss the movie’s unique tone merging melancholy and playful meta touches … Continue reading →
On the ninth episode, Matt and Travis discuss Varda’s documentary on the murals of Los Angeles, Mur Murs. Created virtually simultaneously with the fictional film Documenteur, Mur Murs is a portrait of Los Angeles as a concrete landscape dotted with organic beauty … Continue reading →
On the eighth episode, Matt and Travis welcome Laura Cannon from the Fatal Femmes podcast to discuss Varda’s self-described “feminist musical,” One Sings, the Other Doesn’t. We discuss the film’s still-relevant issues confronting women, the unique nature of the friendship depicted … Continue reading →
On the seventh episode of The Complete Varda, Matt and Travis discuss the charming documentary Varda made for German television in 1975, Daguerréotypes. A simple profile of the shops and their keepers on the block in Paris where Varda lived … Continue reading →
On the sixth episode of the Complete Varda, Matt and Travis discuss the most obscure film in Varda’s filmography, the 1970 made-for-television film Nausicaa. Censored at the time and surviving only in a work print sent to Belgium (with all … Continue reading →
The Complete is dedicated to taking chronological journeys through the most rewarding filmographies in cinema. Each season covers one director, with each episode focusing on one feature film from their catalog. The first season was dedicated to Stanley Kubrick, while the second season covered Elaine May, the third focused on Krzysztof Kieślowski, and our fourth season covered Satoshi Kon. Our current season explores the films of Agnès Varda.
