100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
This is a lovely, quirky and not a little poignant film from Agnès Varda.
The Beaches of Agnès (Les Plages d'Agnès)
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- France
- 2008
- · 110m
Director
Agnès Varda
Cast
Agnès Varda,
André Lubrano,
Blaise Fournier,
Vincent Fournier,
Rosalie Varda,
Mathieu Demy
Genre
Documentary
Filmmaking icon Agnès Varda, the award-winning director regarded by many as the grandmother of the French new wave, turns the camera on herself with this unique autobiographical documentary. Varda's self-portrait recounts the highs and lows of her professional career, the many friendships that affected her life, and her longtime marriage to cinematic giant Jacques Demy.
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What are critics saying?
100
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
In The Beaches of Agnès, you get addicted to watching Agnès Varda watch the world.
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by James Adams
This is a lovely, quirky and not a little poignant film from Agnès Varda.
100
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
If you have never seen a single film by Agnes Varda, perhaps it is best to start with The Beaches of Agnes.
100
Philadelphia Inquirer by Carrie Rickey
A captivating cine-memoir, impressionistic and surrealistic, surveying Varda's formidable career as a still photographer, filmmaker, documentarian, and life force.
100
Washington Post by Ann Hornaday
For filmgoers determined to see cinema not just as mass entertainment but as an art form, The Beaches of Agnes arrives like an exhilarating call to arms.
100
Boston Globe by Wesley Morris
The movie is also more extraordinary than a mere scenic slideshow.
90
The New York Times by Manohla Dargis
The images are as delightful, unexpected and playfully uninhibited as Ms. Varda, perhaps the only filmmaker who has both won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and strolled around an art exhibition while costumed as a potato (not at the same time).
88
St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Joe Williams
For the many mavens who aren't familiar with Varda, this autobiographical documentary will be puzzling, in the best and most literal sense.
83
The A.V. Club by Noel Murray
If The Beaches Of Agnès has no clear structure, that's only because neither does Varda’s life--except in retrospect.
83
Christian Science Monitor by Peter Rainer
The sheer sensuousness of all these bric-a-brac memories is sustaining.
80
Los Angeles Times
A lovely bit of memory and mischief.
80
The Hollywood Reporter
A genuinely playful wander down memory-lane by one of France's most revered film-makers, it's sufficiently erudite and extract-packed to satisfy cinephiles but also accessible to those for whom her name rings only vague bells.
80
Village Voice by J. Hoberman
In a sense, Varda has done for herself what she did for Demy--creating a work, as charming as it is touching, that serves to explicate and enrich an entire oeuvre.
80
New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein
One job of memoir is to show the world through another's eyes and inspire you to live more alertly, and that is the glory of The Beaches of Agnès.
75
New York Post by V.A. Musetto
A sentimental, whimsical autobiography.
70
Variety
Oddball mix that may strike some as overly whimsical but should delight the filmmaker's many fans.
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