Here is a strange Felliniesque documentary about Jane Birkin. Varda takes Birkin apart, gets her to confess and open up, makes up some facts, puts her in roles she does not like (she does not want to play Jane, the wife of Tarzan) and offers her to pick roles she would love (Joan of Arc, Mowgli) and a chance to play against actors who she admires. It is a wild avant garde ride, full of humor, beautiful visuals and quirky moments. Not all of the scenes are as interesting and it does sometimes feel like it is not going anywhere but it is a ride well worth taking and it does show well what a daring and challenging artist Varda has always been.
7.2Keywords: woman director
Plot summary
"I'll look at you, but not at the camera. It could be a trap," whispers Jane Birkin shyly into Agnès Varda's ear at the start of JANE B. PAR AGNES V. The director of CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 and VAGABOND once again paints a portrait of a woman, this time in a marvelously Expressionistic way. "It's like an imaginary bio-pic," says Varda. Jane, of course, is the famed singer ("Je t'aime ... Moi non plus"),actress (BLOW UP),fashion icon (the Hermes Birkin bag) and longtime muse to Serge Gainsbourg. As Varda implies, JANE B. PAR AGNÈS V. abandons the traditional bio-pic format, favoring instead a freewheeling mix of gorgeous and unexpected fantasy sequences. In each, Jane inhabits a new character, playing a cat & mouse game with Varda as they explore the role of the Muse and the Artist, all the while showcasing the multifaceted nature of Birkin's talent. "I'd like to be filmed as if I were transparent, anonymous, like everyone else," says Birkin. But her wish to be a "famous nobody" is impossible to achieve; Birkin is simply too magnificent, too mesmerizing. Here, Varda's signature mix of aesthetic innovation and generosity of emotion results in a surreal and captivating essay on Art, Fame, Love, Children and Staircases. For its first-ever U.S. theatrical release the film has been newly-restored from the original 35mm camera negative, overseen by director Varda herself.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Charlotte Gainsbourg as La fille de J.
Jane Birkin as Calamity Jane / Claude Jade / Joan Arc
Jean-Pierre Léaud as L'amoureux colérique
Agnès Varda as Agnès Varda
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 908.91 MB
1204*720
French 2.0
NR
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