Agnès Varda's Beaches

Watching, and re-watching parts of Agnès Varda's _Les Plages d'Agnès_ (The Beaches of Agnès) 2009, I am struck by just how wonderfully quirky and rich, and open minded a film it is, and quiet, and sad, and fun, in short, it is a film which actually reflects in a very real way, a life lived, and you feel comfortable I think letting it be that. I watched with child-like eyes as Agnès introduced me to her friends, told stories, even about Jim Morrison! I loved seeing and hearing about the young Agnès, the hippy Agnès, the wife, the mother. Her aesthetic seems to partake in her times, and in her contemporaries, but she always seems to remain concisely herself, and totally grounded, and very french, in that sweetly fatalistic way, that is knowing. The wild scenes from her hippy movie were new to me, and very fun to see, and I am always so happy to learn more about the 60's and 70's which I call here at the house, "the inexhaustable decades" because so much was done and recorded, it takes nearly 4 decades to see and digeest it all. I can tell you what Agnès, you've a fan forever in the Jellybean Weirdo. Lots of great details, a face invaginated by the joining of two mirrors, Agnès in California! Even her hair which reminds me of a medieval monk's the way it is bleached on top and colored red down below. After watching her husband's film Lola (Jacques Demy), I kept thinking of that cafe' and that drive up the beach in a convertible in a white cowboy hat.. Truly, when the world
is an ocean, our little lives and minds can only ever be beaches..

flûte!