Faces Places

Director: JR and Agnës Varda

2017, France, 89 min

Cast: JR, Agnës Varda, Laurent Levesque.

 

(France, 2017) Written and directed by JR and Agnës Varda. Cast: JR, Agnës Varda, Laurent Levesque.

“I don’t feel like filming people that have power. I’m much more interested in the rebels, the people who fight for their own life.” Agnës Varda, the sole female member of the French New Wave who will turn 80 in May, has made some 22 extraordinary fiction and documentary movies, from Cleo From 5 to 7 to The Gleaners and I. In Faces Places, Varda travels around with JR, a young photographer looking for subjects for his giant portraits. On their journey through a lesser-known France, Varda meets factory workers, fishermen, farmers and (out of work) miners. Varda will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Oscars this year – and it’s about time. 89 min. NYT Critic’s Pick

“a powerful, complex and radical work. As we contemplate those faces and places we reflect on the passage of time and the nature of memory, on the dignity of labor and the fate of the European working class.” A.O. Scott, New York Times.