La Pointe Courte – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #419 (part of the “4 by Agnès Varda” Box Set) (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

August 28, 2010 by Dennis Amith 

The first film of filmmaker “4 by Agnès Varda” and considered by some as the first film of the French New Wave.  Created for $14,000, a dream of a young woman who wanted to become a filmmaker despite not having any cinema experience, never attended a film school but had a vision was realized.  And although Varda has created impressive films after “La Pointe Courte”, this film earned her distinction as “The Ancestor of the French of New Wave”.

Image courtesy of © Agnes Varda et enfants 1994. © 2007 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: La Pointe Courte – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #419 (as part of the “4 By Agnès Varda” DVD Box Set)

YEAR OF MOVIE: 1954

DURATION: 80 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Black and White, French Dolby Digital Monaural, 1:33:1 Aspect Ratio, Subtitles: English

COMPANY: Janus Film/The Criterion Collection

RELEASED: 2007

Written and Directed by Agnès Varda

Music by Pierre Barbaud

Cinematography by Louis Soulanes, Paul Soulignac, Louis Stein

Edited by Alain Resnais

Starring:

Silvia Monfort as Elle

Philippe Noiret as Lui

The great Agnès Varda’s film career began with this graceful, penetrating study of a marriage on the rocks, set against the backdrop of a small Mediterranean fishing village. Both a stylized depiction of the complicated relationship between a married couple (played by Silvia Monfort and Philippe Noiret) and a documentary-like look at the daily struggles of the locals, Varda’s discursive, gorgeously filmed debut was radical enough to later be considered one of the progenitors of the coming French New Wave.

The first film of filmmaker “4 by Agnès Varda” and considered by some as the first film of the French New Wave.  Created for $14,000, a dream of a young woman who wanted to become a filmmaker despite not having any cinema experience, never attended a film school but had a vision was realized.  And although Varda has created impressive films after “La Pointe Courte”, this film earned her distinction as “The Ancestor of the French of New Wave”.

In 1954, Agnès Varda in her late ’20s had a passion about novels and had dreams of wanting to direct her own film.

But in France, one must go through protocol and having learn the ropes of becoming a director.  Varda never watched many films, she never went to film school but she knew what she wanted to do and that was make a film.  Varda was inspired by William Faulkner’s novel “The Wild Palms” (also known as “If I Forget Thee Jerusalem”) and how the novel would focus on two unrelated stories, one about a couple and another about two escaped convicts.  In Varda’s screenplay, her story would focus on a couple and a fishing town in the Port of Sète where Varda and family lived during wartime and would visit every summer.  The location would be the setting for “La Pointe Courte”.

So, she and her mother put in around $14,000 of her own money and Varda recruited two thespian friends Silvia Monfort as Elle and Philippe Noiret as Lui to play a couple and the residents of the fishing village to play a part in the film.  All actors and talent would volunteer their time for this film and she would work with a short crew which included filmmaker and well-known film editor, Alain Resnais (Hiroshima mon amour”, “Last Year at Marienbad”).  And thus, Varda’s low-budget independent film “La Point Courte” was made.

The film would be known for bucking traditional filmmaking, showcasing a creative style of filmmaking before Nouvelle Vague and during its run at Cannes International Film Festival and screened to the intellectual cineaste, the film would receive critical praise and Varda a few years later would receive the distinction as one of the primary filmmakers, let alone a female filmmaker, who would inspire the French New Wave.  Also, giving her the title of “Grandmother of the French New Wave” (or “Ancestor of the French New Wave”).

In 2007, The Criterion Collection celebrated Varda’s career by releasing a DVD box set titled “4 by Agnès Varda” featuring “La Pointe Courte” and the three films: “Clèo from 5 to 7″, “Vagabond” and “Le Bonheur”.

“La Pointe Courte” takes place in a seaside village where the majority of the villagers are trying to survive.  Many of them work by catching fish and shellfish and selling them but the French police are also very strict in enforcing their fishing policies that one must have a license and if not, they will have to serve time in jail.

We see how some villagers work together with a system in trying to alert each other know when an inspector is in their vicinity, but we also see how life is in the area.  Strict old family traditions to even some having more children that becomes the talk of the town.   Also, we see how the town has a feline problem and as a few women are producing plenty of children, there is a growing problem with the number of cats in the town as well.   Varda shows us this side of life within the village which is normal.

But her other story focuses on a couple.  Elle has left her city of Paris to live with her love Lui.  Lui grew up in the seaside village and is content with the peaceful life in his hometown but Elle, is not so happy about living with him in the area.  Lui loves Elle so much but Elle, talks about their love as its like a flower that is starting to wilt.  The two discuss their relationship, Lui for his everlasting love for Elle but Elle of how their four years together, the love they have is not the same.

Whether or not this is Elle really feeling these emotions or its her way to test his love for her and to see if Lui would do what it takes to make her happy (by leaving the seaside town).

“La Pointe Courte” was a unique film during its time utilizing Faulkner’s style of storytelling for “The Wild Palms” and using two independent stories but in this case, they are somewhat related to each other.  But also giving people a chance to see the life of the seaside town that she grew up with and what people do to survive, while a couple reconsiders their love and relationship.

VIDEO:

“La Pointe Courte – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #419″ is presented in 1:33:1 black and white and looks very good for a low-budget film shot in 1955.  Probably only once or twice did I notice some PQ problems with the print ala a grayish line running through the center of the film but it was only for a short time.  For the most part, blacks, grays and whites do pop and contrast was well-done.

The shots were absolutely beautiful and you will see a lot of scenes in which character positioning were well-planned, well-executed and very creative and artistic and would definitely inspire many other filmmakers.  It is important to note that Varda was not a big movie watcher at the time, so the concept utilized by other filmmakers worldwide was not much of an inspiration for her, she did what she felt was natural.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“La Pointe Courte – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #419″ is presented in French Dolby Digital monaural with English subtitles.   Because the film was shot with a low-budget, the vocals were recorded after the film was shot and edited to the film during post-production.  The film was shot entirely silent and according to Varda, the villagers of the seaside town were a bit upset that the voices onscreen were not their own.  But it was necessary to do the voices afterward in order to produce the clearer dialogue and incorporate Pierre Barbaud’s music.

The film was also known to utilize sound as up-front and close.  Where when people are walking farther and sound starts to dissipate, not for this film as Varda wanted to do things nontraditional and it worked.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“La Pointe Courte – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #419” comes with the following special features:

• Agnès Varda Interview - (15:43) A 2007 interview with Agnès Varda in regards to how “La Pointe Courte” came about and how she received the title of “grandmother” or “ancestor” of the French New Wave.
• Cineastes De Notre Temps - (8:50) An excerpt from “La nouvelle vague par elle-meme” from the French TV series “Cineastes de Notre Temps” aired back in 1964.  The interview with Agnes Varda goes in length of the films she has created up to 1964.

“La Pointe Courte” was the starting point for Agnès Varda.

When she was a young woman, she had a dream and without following traditional routes to become one, she did what she could to become a director, get her filmed screened at festival and sure enough, the film opened up more opportunities for the filmmaker and would lead to more impressive films which a few are featured in “4 by Agnès Varda” from The Criterion Collection.

“La Pointe Courte” is a film that one can see as necessary for cinema fans who are interested in Varda’s career but also to see a glimpse of Varda’s artistic style and film perspective in her debut film.  She wanted to show how villagers in the seaside area were and show that part of life of what she enjoyed in her childhood every summer.  Inspired by Faulkner’s novel, “The Wild Palms”, she introduces us to a couple in the same setting but where dialogue is much more different.  Words are much more poetic, deep and meaningful for the couple as they re-evaluate their relationship.

What is very impressive is that this film was from a woman with no film experience, she was not a deep viewer of cinema, she never went to film school and in 1955, for $14,000, she was able to create her own independent film.  Very inspiring to those who would later become known for their work in the French New Wave but also acknowledging Varda for what she had contributed to cinema with her debut film.  The film is considered by some as the first French New Wave film and others are impressed that the film has elements of Italian Neo-Realism but yet Varda had not watched any of those films.  She did what she wanted to do and crafted a film for $14,000 quite impressively but visually, shows us Varda, the aesthete, as this film is impressive visually and presented in a Brechtian kind of way.

As I have mentioned, the couple scenes were done artistically and the verbal back-and-forth between the characters were well-done, but its the way the village is portrayed.  You see a sense of people fine with their lifestyle, their setting and Varda showcases this, not to make the viewer feel sympathy but more of how things are. It’s the way of life.  As mentioned earlier, how the village make their profit through fish and the seafood in the area, which the police try to interfere due to the fisherman not carrying a valid license but also for the health as some of the shellfish may contain bacteria.  Of course, for a village that thrives on the sales of the fish and to provide for their families, even if done illegally and without being tested for bacteria or other problems.

We see how some women have way more children than other families, we see how cats have grown in population and have become a problem as they pop up everywhere (including a scene of a dead cat in the ocean) in the film.  But we also see how death comes to the village and how its handled.  Varda doesn’t focus on this to make viewers weep or feel sympathy but to show us how people respond to death.  It’s almost as a voyeuristic, documentarian way of looking at the life of these villagers and I found these scenes quite intriguing, especially seeing how different their scenes is much different from the Lui and Elle.

“La Pointe Courte” may not be Varda’s masterpiece (I still hold Varda’s 1961 film “Clèo from 5 to 7″ in the highest regard) but it is a unique, fun, poetic and artistic in the way each scene is presented in camera.  You can tell there was a lot of planning on character positioning, camera shots and for the most part, the dialogue and the screenplay banter between Lui and Elle was well written by Varda as well.  And I absolutely loved how she kept both stories separate and different but yet within the same location setting.

“La Pointe Courte” is a wonderful inclusion for The Criterion Collection’s “4 by Agnès Varda” DVD box set, especially for the fact that this first film of Varda’s never received mass screening at theaters.

(Note: Review below pertains to the film and not the overall DVD boxset).

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