With the ubiquity of streaming platforms, the idea of purchasing physical media seems to be something that many people don’t understand. However, for cinephiles, especially those that get excited by Criterion Collection releases, the upcoming 15-disc release of “The Complete Films of Agnès Varda” is proof that not only is physical media alive and well, but that there’s still something special about owning a boxed set such as this.
Criterion has just announced the release of “The Complete Films of Agnès Varda,” set to arrive in August, and is a must-have for any fan of international films or just films, in general. Collecting all 39 features over the 15 individual discs, along with a plethora of special features (including Varda introducing each of the films), this release is just packed. And now that Varda sadly passed away last year, this release will likely stand as the definitive collection of the art of one of the most acclaimed filmmakers.
You can watch the new trailer for the Criterion release, as well as read the official description, below:
A founder of the French New Wave who became an international art-house icon, Agnès Varda was a fiercely independent, restlessly curious visionary whose work was at once personal and passionately committed to the world around her. In an abundant career in which she never stopped expanding the notion of what a movie can be, Varda forged a unique cinematic vocabulary that frequently blurs the boundaries between narrative and documentary, and entwines loving portraits of her friends, her family, and her own inner world with a social consciousness that was closely attuned to the 1960s counterculture, the women’s liberation movement, the plight of the poor and socially marginalized, and the ecology of our planet. This comprehensive collection places Varda’s filmography in the context of her parallel work as a photographer and multimedia artist-all of it a testament to the radical vision, boundless imagination, and radiant spirit of a true original for whom every act of creation was a vital expression of her very being.
PROGRAMS AND FILMS
Agnès Forever – Varda by Agnès (2019), Les 3 boutons (2015)
Early Varda – La Pointe Courte (1955), Ô saisons, ô châteaux (1958), Du côté de la côte (1958)
Around Paris – Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962), Les fiancés du pont Macdonald (1962), L’opéra-mouffe (1958), Les dites cariatides (1984), T’as de beaux escaliers, tu sais (1986)
Rue Daguerre – Daguerréotypes (1975), Le lion volatil (2003)
Married Life – Le bonheur (1965), Les créatures (1966), Elsa la Rose (1966)
In California – Uncle Yanco (1968), Black Panthers (1970), Lions Love (. . . and Lies) (1969), Mur Murs (1981), Documenteur (1981)
Her Body, Herself – One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (1977), Réponse de femmes (1975), Plaisir d’amour en Iran (1977)
No Shelter – Vagabond (1985), 7 p., cuis., s. de b. . . . (à saisir) (1985)
Jane B. – Jane B. par Agnès V. (1988), Kung-Fu Master! (1988)
Jacques Demy – Jacquot de Nantes (1991), The Young Girls Turn 25 (1993), The World of Jacques Demy (1995)
Simon Cinéma – One Hundred and One Nights (1995)
La glaneuse – The Gleaners and I (2000), The Gleaners and I: Two Years Later (2002)
Visual Artist – Faces Places, codirected with JR (2017), Salut les cubains (1964), Ulysse (1982), Ydessa, les ours et etc. . . . (2004)
Here and There – Agnès de ci de là Varda (2011)
Beaches – The Beaches of Agnès (2008)