Les plages d'Agnès (2008)

Director:

Agnès Varda

Writer:

Agnès Varda (written by)

Release Date:

17 December 2008 (France)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Plot:

Agnès Varda explores her memories, mostly chronologically, with photographs, film clips, interviews, reenactments, and droll, playful contemporary scenes of her narrating her story.

Plot Keywords:

Memory | Photograph | Interview | Film Clip | Reenactment

Awards:

7 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Agnès Varda	...	Herself
André Lubrano	...	Himself
Blaise Fournier	...	Himself
Vincent Fournier	...	Himself
Andrée Vilar	...	Herself
Stéphane Vilar	...	Himself
Christophe Vilar	...	Himself
Rosalie Varda	...	Herself
Mathieu Demy	...	Himself
Christophe Vallaux	...	Himself
Mireille Henrio	...	Herself
Didier Rouget	...	Himself
Anne-Laure Manceau	...	Agnès Varda jeune
Gérard Ayres	...	Himself (as Gerry Ayres)
Jim McBride	...	Himself
Tracy McBride	...	Herself
Patricia Louisianna Knop	...	Herself (as Patricia Knop)
Zalman King	...	Himself
Richard Scarry	...	Himself
Eugene Kotlyarenko	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Laura Betti	...	Herself (archive footage)
Jane Birkin	...	Herself / La croupière (also archive footage)
Sandrine Bonnaire	...	Herself (archive footage)
Antoine Bourseiller	...	Himself (archive footage)
Nino Castelnuovo	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert De Niro	...	Himself (archive footage)
Constantin Demy	...	Himself
Jacques Demy	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joséphine Demy	...	Herself
Catherine Deneuve	...	Herself (archive footage)
Gérard Depardieu	...	Le beatnik (archive footage)
France Dougnac	...	Herself (archive footage)
Harrison Ford	...	Himself (archive footage)
Charlotte Gainsbourg	...	Herself (archive footage)
Serge Gainsbourg	...	Himself (archive footage)
Julie Gayet	...	Herself (archive footage)
Valérie Mairesse	...	Herself (archive footage)
Sabine Mamou	...	Herself (archive footage)
Corinne Marchand	...	Herself (archive footage)
Silvia Monfort	...	Herself (archive footage)
Yolande Moreau	...	Herself - racontant un souvenir d'enfance d'Agnès Varda
Jim Morrison	...	Himself (archive footage)
Philippe Noiret	...	Himself (archive footage)
Michel Piccoli	...	Himself (archive footage)
James Rado	...	Himself (archive footage)
Gerome Ragni	...	Himself (archive footage)
Alain René	...	Himself
Viva	...	Herself (archive footage)

Directed by
Agnès Varda

Writing credits
Agnès Varda		(written by)

Produced by
Lisa Blok-Linson	....	line producer
Thomas E. Taplin	....	executive producer: Los Angeles
Agnès Varda	....	producer

Original Music by
Joanna Bruzdowicz
Stéphane Vilar

Cinematography by
Julia Fabry
Hélène Louvart
Arlene Nelson
Alain Sakot
Agnès Varda

Film Editing by
Baptiste Filloux
Jean-Baptiste Morin

Production Design by
Franckie Diago

Production Management
Nathalie Dages	....	unit production manager
Jean-Noël Félix	....	unit manager
Cécilia Rose	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Benjamin Blanc	....	first assistant director
Julia Fabry	....	assistant director

Art Department
Daniel Cerny	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Pierre Bariaud	....	assistant sound editor
Alexis Bret	....	sound mixer
Aymeric Dupas	....	assistant sound mixer
Olivier Goinard	....	sound mixer
Pierre Mertens	....	sound mixer
Sylvain Philipon	....	sound mixer
Olivier Schwob	....	sound
Emmanuel Soland	....	sound editor
Emmanuel Soland	....	sound
James Thornton	....	sound mixer
Damien Tronchot	....	assistant sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Aram Aramyan	....	first assistant camera
David S. Bouza	....	gaffer
Guillaume Brunet	....	electrician
Baptiste Filloux	....	first assistant camera
Michael Phelan	....	key grip: Los Angeles
Frédéric Serve	....	first assistant camera
Valentin Vignet	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Serge Anthony	....	colorist

Music Department
Georgi Hristovski	....	sound engineer
Laurent Levesque	....	composer: additional music

Other crew
Francisco Arcaute	....	production assistant
Victor Bautista	....	production assistant
Kimby Caplan	....	production assistant
Eugene Kotlyarenko	....	production assistant
Melissa Lavabre	....	production assistant (as Melissa Levabre)
Terry Walters	....	production assistant
Rachel Zisser	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Ciné Tamaris (co-production)
• arte France Cinéma (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• Région Ile-de-France (support)
• Région Languedoc-Roussillon (support)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (support)
• France 2 (FR2) (uncredited)

Distributors

• Les Films du Losange (2008) (France) (theatrical)
• Cinéart (2009) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Cinéart (2009) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Filmes do Estação (2009) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• IFA (2010) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Midas Filmes (2009) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Zazie Films (2009) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Artificial Eye (2009-2010) (UK) (all media)
• Cinema Guild (2009-2010) (USA) (all media) (subtitled)
• Cinema Guild (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Cinéart (2009) (Luxembourg) (all media)
• JinJin Pictures (2009) (South Korea) (all media)
• Les Films Séville (2010) (Canada) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2010) (Argentina) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"The Beaches of Agnès" - International (English title)
"The Beaches of Agnes" - Canada (English title) (DVD box title)
"As Praias de Agnès" - Brazil (imdb display title), Portugal (imdb display title)
"Agnès stränder" - Sweden
"Agnès' Strände" - Germany
"Las playas de Agnès" - Argentina (imdb display title)
"Les plages d'Agnès" - Canada (French title) (theatrical title)
"Oi paralies tis zois mou" - Greece (festival title)
"Plaze Agnes" - Poland

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Hong Kong:III (Hong Kong International Film Festival) | Netherlands:AL | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Sweden:7 | France:U | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Ancienne Ecole Nationale de Photographie et de Cinématographie, 85 Rue de Vaugirard, Paris 6, Paris, France

Company:

Ciné Tamaris

Trivia:

French visa # 118156.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Film socialisme (2010)

Soundtrack:

Symphonie en Si mineur, Opus 7 D. 759

Lively and vibrant

In a revealing and playful mood, filmmaker Agnes Varda narrates her own filmed autobiography in The Beaches of Agnes. The film begins with Varda, now 82, setting up mirrors on the beach with the sounds of one of her mother's favorite works, Schubert's Unfinished Symphony in the background Though she asserts that "Today, I'm playing a little old lady, talkative and plump," she looks anything like a little old lady. The film re-creates her life with childhood memories that take her back to homes she knew as a child in Brussels and the city of Sete where she made her first film at the age of 26.

The film is not a dry documentary, filled with reminiscences of people we never heard of. It is a work of art in itself, a celebration not only of her life, but of all life. Along the way, Varda takes us to Los Angeles (one of her favorite cities in which she lived) where she talks about and shows photos of her former husband Jacques Demy, who she announces died of AIDS in 1990, Jane Birkin, Chris Marker (dressed as a cartoon cat) and even poet, singer Jim Morrison. Varda began as a photographer and we see an example of her photos from a long time ago. While the film documents Varda's films beginning with her first Le Pointe Curé in 1956 to the present day and the first appearances on film of Gerald Depardieu, Phillipe Noiret, and Harrison Ford, she also discusses in detail and shows excerpts from her most popular films including Cléo from 5 to 7, Le Bonheur, Vagabond, The Gleaners and I, and her documentary tributes to her husband.

Rather than an egoists attempt to enhance a reputation with big events in which she participated, the film looks at small things like the uniform she had to wear in Vichy France and a scene at an outdoor flea market where the director finds cardboard cutouts of herself and other filmmakers with their works listed on the back. But there is much more. With actors dramatizing important memories from her life, The Beaches of Agnes is filled with the people, including her two grown children, places and events, including her trips to Cuba and China that contributed to her personal growth and made her the lively and vibrant person she is today. She closes the documentary by saying, "I am alive, and I remember." While we are still alive, we will remember her.