I really liked the shots at the beach with the mirrors and in general Varda's aesthetics, but for me the best parts of the film are when she looks back on her relationship with Demy. For the casual viewer, it sums up her career and gives condensed glimpses of her work throughout the decades but might be a little too talky (I enjoyed it more when she let others speak), so it's probably a film that works best for the initiated as they can appreciate her musings and the backstage access a lot more.

It has become something of a cliche for the art film to make the beach its figurative crux. The defining feature of our physical world has been appropriated as the brand of the art film. Along with The Beach trope we have The Mirror. Perhaps no film is bold enough to exist without having at least one shot of a protagonist sizing themselves up in the mirror whether it be in self loathing or contemplation. Enter Agnes Varda who opens her film The Beaches of Agnes by bringing mirrors to the beach. By playfully compounding cliches Varda breathes new life into the all but dead poetic qualities of beaches and mirrors while also re-establishing the triumph of personal imagination over a cinema that is more than ever plagued by convention and commercialization. Varda is arguably the original pioneer of the French new wave, leading the charge even before Godard Rivette and Truffaut. One of the greatest achievements of the French New Wave was bucking the studio/genre constraints that had long kept cinema from realizing itself as an art of personal expression. In the Beaches of Agnes, Varda takes the documentary/autobiographical form to new personal heights with a wide array of sound-image techniques. What separates Beaches of Agnes from its counterparts is its dedication to creating a personal style to match its personal content. Autobiographical voice-over juxtaposed with montage, found-footage, re-creation, and installation like mise en scene are few of the many methods Varda uses to further personalize an artistic medium that is arguably fundamentally at odds with personal expression. Hence we return to those beaches and mirrors which proves that the greatest qualities of the The French New Wave established by Varda are far from dated and contemporary filmmakers should be taking notes.

Inventive, madly moving, a thousand surprises

Que delícia de filme. Uma autobiografia em fragmentos recortados, selecionados pela memória afetiva. "Je me souviens pendant que je vis." Depois...

Delightful French movie about and by Agnes Varda. Enjoyed it very much.

Très bien, surprenant, sur la vie d'Agnes Varda revue d'une perspective artistique et imaginative, très créatif et réussit le pari de ne pas faire un catalogue de film bien présenté. Très bien.

Filme autobiográfico de Agnès Varda, Les Plages d'Agnès é encantador. Traz felicidades, tristezas, sinceridade e humor. Dá vontade de conhecer lugares e rever outros, sentir o vento na cara, tirar fotos, protestar, conversar, chorar, sorrir, viver.

A meditation on life, art, love, and aging. Wonderfully meta and amusingly clever. Agnes Varda has created something truly unique.

Coquillages et crustaces, Agnes va vous scotcher. Merci Agnes pour cette fraicheur cinematographique.

I want to grow old like Agnès Varda. Such a child-like imagination she has!

French director Agnes Varda has an endearing, comfortable way of making a film seem like a spontaneous inspiration. It's as if she's shooting in real time and just following whatever tangent occurs to her in the moment. In the case of the autobiographical "The Beaches of Agnes," the story effortlessly skips between flashback recreations, scenes from her past work, present activities (her 80th birthday party is the climax) and surreal set pieces. But how much you enjoy the movie will depend a lot on how interested you already were in her life. She has known a slew of famous artists, and she obviously still grieves her late husband, director Jacques Demy ("The Umbrellas of Cherbourg," "Lola," "Donkey Skin"). She's a whimsical, funky lady with a youthful spirit. But her droll self-tribute is a bit indulgent, and not as academically informative as it could be. Still, you might pick up a few rental ideas. (Are "Les Creatures" and "Lions Love" really as lame as she says?)

I didn't connect with this one like I did Les glaneurs et la glaneuse, probably because it is a little too diffuse. However, Varda is so much fun to spend time with, it's still thoroughly enjoyable. (Reminded me of Derek Jarman, actually???)

A film as unique and impressive as its subject -Peter Sobczynski

<i>Les Plages d'Agnès</i> es un documental autobiográfico de la aclamada cineasta belga Agnès Varda. El filme es un proyecto en el que Varda utiliza el cine como una herramienta para hablar sobre ella, sobre su vida, sobre sus seres queridos y sobre su obra a poco tiempo de llegar a los ochenta años. Siendo una artista consumada, Agnès Varda se enfrenta en su más reciente obra documental al reto de encarar a su reflejo en las playas que han delimitado su vida, de ver hacia su pasado y su presente para pintar con la cámara un cuadro de sí misma. En <i>Les Plages d'Agnès</i>, Varda recurre al cine para poder mostrarse realmente; no juega con los recursos cinematográficos, se hace una con ellos, muestra su dominio sobre el lenguaje fílmico para hacer cine en su esencia más pura. La cinta trasciende cualquier etiqueta. Para Varda, lo que dice en su obra no es ajeno al medio que utiliza; es así que la cinta recurre a instalaciones, performance, secuencias narrativas, testimonios e imágenes tomadas de sus películas en una obra estructurada a partir de la forma del collage que es la memoria. El cine de la belga se muestra completamente honesto, al punto de mostrar el proceso de producción como parte del producto final. Es un filme de estética única, una mirada a las profundas concepciones de su autora respecto al arte y al cine; Varda nos muestra en estas visiones otro de los espejos en que refleja su imagen verdadera para su retrato cinematográfico. Las partes que conforman <i>Les Plages d'Agnès</i> son inconcebibles de forma aislada; el cine de la autora evoluciona al punto en que el lente de la cámara no es distinto al ojo del artista: cine verdadero, cine narrativo, cine artístico; todo parte del ilimitado séptimo arte. La dirección de Agnès Varda es libre en su fluidez, la cinta-collage se asemeja a un cauce intrincado y espóntaneo donde a cada paso se devela un poco más de la psique de su directora. El filme es sincero en su autorretrato, sin vanidad, nostalgia ni pretensiones, ni siquiera es un homenaje; es un poco de regocijo por Varda que homenaje ya es su vida misma. El manejo del ritmo es interesante por sus cambios y su adecuación a los giros en la cinta mientras que la edición permite el brillo de cada uno de los recursos empleados por la cineasta en su narración. La música es bien utilizada. Las imágenes de la película son igualmente bellas y reflejan un entendimiento artístico único en la dirección de arte de la obra. Aunque es necesario conocer al menos un poco de la vida y obra de Agnès Varda para disfrutar el filme como es debido, <i>Les Plages d'Agnès</i> es más que una biografía o una semblanza del cine de su autora, es una muestra de la asombrosa concepción fílmica de una artista definitiva que, a sus ochenta años, brilla con más fuerza que nunca, libre de las limitaciones que tanto han aquejado al cine. ****/

An autobiography in documentary form of filmmaker Agnes Varda directed by Varda. It is quirky and delightful, like Varda, herself that shows a true passion for life that is inspiring.

عظÙ...Ø (C) عÙ٠عظÙ...Ø (C) Ùا Ø¢ÙÙÙس

Autobiographical documentary highlights the life of Agnes Varda. A few slow parts, but an overall fascinating collection of observations and images.

Depressing and French.

Belle autobiographie en images, pleine de fantaisie.

Some of the closest people in Agnes Varda’s life have problems with memory as they grew older, this self directed documentary of one of the French New Wave director’s career and personal life is in a way immortalize those memories before her brain cells fail her. The documentary includes recorded materials and new shots showing her inventive visualization of events.