A Complicated Passion

The Life and Work of Agnes Varda

By: Carrie Rickey

Narrated by: Christina Delaine

Over the course of her sixty-five-year career, the longest of any female filmmaker, Agnes Varda (1928-2019) wrote and directed some of the most acclaimed films of her era, from her tour de force Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962), a classic of modernist cinema, to the beloved documentary The Gleaners and I (2000) four decades later. She helped to define the French New Wave, inspired an entire generation of filmmakers, and was recognized with major awards at the Cannes, Berlin, and Venice Film Festivals, as well as an honorary Oscar at the Academy Awards.

In this lively biography, Carrie Rickey explores the "complicated passions" that informed Varda's charmed life and indelible work. Rickey traces Varda's three remarkable careers-as still photographer, as filmmaker, and as installation artist. She explains how Varda was a pioneer in blurring the lines between documentary and fiction, using the latest digital technology and carving a path for women in the movie industry. She demonstrates how Varda was years ahead of her time in addressing sexism, abortion, labor exploitation, immigrant rights, and race relations with candor and incisiveness. And she delves into Varda's incredibly rich social life with figures such as Harrison Ford, Jean-Luc Godard, Jim Morrison, Susan Sontag, and Andy Warhol, and her nearly forty-year marriage to the celebrated director Jacques Demy.

©2024 Carrie Rickey (P)2024 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

A wonderful look at an elusive talent

What a great book. Beautifully reveals Varda’s puckish spirit and deeply felt commitment to her art and the issues and passions that drove it. You’ll want to keep a running list as you listen for all the films and photos you’ll want to check out next (I’m already halfway through “One Sings, the Other Doesn’t,” gonna track down “Vagabond” next). While resisting hagiography, the author’s tremendous respect and passion for Varda’s work is infectious.

Too short

I just wish it was longer as well written and researched as it is I think Varda deserved deeper erudition. Lesser men have far longer biographies.