Faces Places-2017

Director Agnes Varda, JR

Scott’s Review #816

Reviewed October 3, 2018

Grade: B+

Fans of French culture, landscape, and sophistication will assuredly enjoy Faces Places (2017), a documentary that explores art and creativity.

With humorous and touching moments, the work explores the friendship between two artists of vastly different ages.

Some scenes of Paris, especially the French countryside, make this a personal treat.

The documentary begins by showing its two main characters, thirty-something JR and eighty-something Agnes Varda, who do not know one another beforehand and miss each other in a coffee shop.

Both share their passion for images expressed in different ways—photography and cinema. They each enjoy expressing ordinary people’s stories by creating lavish portraits and exhibiting them in houses, barns, and the like.

Both Varda and JR co-directed this documentary.

When I decided to view Faces Places, I did so with the anticipation that I would be treated to sightseeing-type glimpses of Paris and the surrounding areas—possibly even the south of France, Niece, or Burgundy!

Paris gets short shrift, but this can be forgiven as rural France (not known as a tourist hotbed) is featured mainly. We experience many local French people living ordinary lives but bringing something treasured to the film.

As Agnes and JR cavort around the rural roads in his pickup truck, they stop in small towns where they have heard of an interesting story.

In one town, a farmer works alone and supports his village—a superhero of sorts. In another town, Varga and JR honor an old woman who has lived in the same house for decades by brandishing her portrait on the exterior of her house. The woman is tearful and emotionally touched.

The dynamic between Agnes and JR is the high point of the documentary.

With more than one generation between them, they begin as acquaintances, but their bond flourishes and grows as the documentary moves along.

Think of the relationship between Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort in the 1971 masterpiece Harold and Maude, save for the romantic element. In a touching moment, JR introduces Agnes to his quite elderly grandmother, and the two women hit it off tremendously.

Varda is particularly interesting because of her contribution to the 1950s French New Wave cinema.

Her usage of location sequences and non-professional actors was unconventional at the time and highly influential. In a tender scene, Varda attempts to visit friend Jean-Luc Godard, but he refuses to see her, evidently now living as a recluse.

Faces Places (2017) is a rich and soulful experience with enough imagination and creativity to inspire viewers.

Although the documentary does not offer as much of the vast French landscape as I had anticipated, it does offer a lesson in the importance of life.

With a startlingly connected duo contributing a whimsical approach to their passion, the result is an inspirational journey everyone can enjoy.

Oscar Nominations: Best Documentary-Feature

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best Documentary Feature (won)