Gleaners And I

Year: 2002

Grade: B+

Country: France

Director: Varda

Review

i’ve never seen agnes varda’s “cleo from 5 to 7,” but after seeing this documentary by her, i’m more interested than ever. they’re two completely different things – one a black and white 60s film, the other a new millennium documentary. she exhibits an auteur style here, though, that makes me curious to see what she may have done with a fiction film that she could shape completely. in this documentary she starts with paintings depicting gleaners in wheat fields and sets out to find the modern day equivalents. since machines do most of the gleaning in fields she follows scavengers and street dwellers who glean what they can from the street, garbage cans, or fields after the harvest. varda interjects herself into the film quite a bit and that’s fine because 1) the title is the gleaners and I and 2) she’s an interesting subject. the way varda views simple things like passing trucks, found objects on the street, or even her own hands is not only interesting but it shows the curiosity that led to the making of this film. despite the fact that varda is very much a part of the documentary, she does allow the film to take her where it wants. she embraces accidents (the lens cap flapping into the frame after she accidentally left the camera on) and tangents (a man at the end who she runs into by accident, but ends up following for the last ten minutes of the film). a well-made film that is not only full of information on gleaning and french culture, but is also a pleasure to watch.