A Beginner’s Guide to Agnès Varda: Five Films to Start With

November 19, 2025 jakartacinemaclub

Agnès Varda never made films that sit quietly. Her work moves, questions, jokes, observes, and sometimes pokes back. For newcomers, her filmography can feel vast but also welcoming. This guide offers five accessible entry points into Varda’s world, films that show her curiosity, warmth, and sharp eye without asking you to be a scholar first.

1. Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)

Start with Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962), the film that often becomes a first encounter with Varda. Shot in near real time, it tracks a young singer wandering Paris while waiting for medical results. What begins as vanity slowly turns into self-awareness. It feels modern even now, especially in how it looks at insecurity, public image, and the fear of being seen only on the surface.

*Cléo from 5 to 7* follows a pop singer wandering Paris as fear slowly gives way to clarity.

2. Vagabond (1985)

Then there’s Vagabond (1985), a colder but striking shift. Varda follows the traces of a young drifter found dead in a ditch, piecing together fragments from people she met. The film resists easy judgment. It watches without explaining too much, asking viewers to sit with discomfort and freedom at the same time.

*Vagabond* looks at a life on the road through fragments and memory

3. The Gleaners and I (2000)

The Gleaners and I (2000) shows Varda later in life, playful and curious, holding a small digital camera and chasing ideas. She meets people who live off what others discard and turns the act of collecting into a reflection on aging, memory, and attention. It feels loose, personal, and quietly radical.

*The Gleaners and I* (2000) finds meaning in what society leaves behind

4. One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (1977)

With One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (1977), Varda looks at friendship, feminism, and reproductive rights through the lives of two women across years. The tone is warm and open, grounded in political belief without losing intimacy. It reminds us that cinema can argue gently and still land hard.

*One Sings, the Other Doesn’t* (1977) connects friendship with freedom and choice.

5. Faces Places (2017)

Finally, Faces Places (2017), co-directed with JR, feels like a joyful farewell. Traveling through rural France, the film celebrates encounters, shared curiosity, and art as conversation. It’s light on its feet, funny, and deeply human.

*Faces Places* (2017) celebrates chance encounters and shared curiosity

These five films show Varda’s range without losing her voice. She observes people closely, trusts small moments, and lets curiosity lead. For beginners, this is less about checking boxes and more about learning how cinema can look back at you.