Cinevardaphoto is the second film of Agnes Varda reviewed here. The first was "The Gleaners", December 12. As the words "cine" and "photo" suggests in the title, this Netflix DVD is actually 3 short films about the power of photography by Agnes Varda. The first is a documentary about a collector, artist, and curator, Ydessa Hendeles who made a photo art installation called the "Teddy Bear Project" first presented in a Toronto Art Museum and with a second viewing in Berlin. The project was installation included two stories with a room on each level connected by a winding staircase. From floor to ceiling are photos. People of all ages, doing all kinds of things in all kinds of places but in every picture there is at least one teddy bear.
Ydessa said her exhibit is not a theme show. The whole show include other rooms as sparse as the two exhibiting photos is crowded. The exhibit challenges the viewer. Ydessa connects on an emotional level with the viewer.
Included in Varda's film are the responses of the people viewing the actual exhibit, "The Teddy Bear Project". Walking through the entire exhibition, the feelings of the spectator changes for the photos of people with teddy bears. After seeing the almost emptiness, they go back through the rooms of photos with teddy bears that previously gave them warm fuzzy feelings of connectedness. Now most felt the photos made them painfully sad.
But the way the film was presented, I felt uplifted with confirmation that all people are essentially alike including everyone. But I might be projecting my own beliefs into the deliberately understated theme.
The second film, "Ulyssis" documents Agnes Varda's photography after World War II.
The third was a documentary of 1950's Cuban revolution and the Cuban arts. I enjoyed how a group of still photos taken in succession were used to create the illusion of a motion picture.
Creativity is taking two or more ideas and combining them to make a new not obvious realizationship. Agnes Varda believes all aspects of making a film should work together to communicate the theme without anything to distract.
1 comment:
I have teddy bears and am not giving them up, None were gotten as a child but I think most in my 50s but am not sure. In the truck, on the dashboard, I have small stuffed moose and one weird bug from I think a McDonald's promotion when they did that sort of thing. I was thinking of taking them out when I watched a little girl look at them and smile. They'll stay a while longer.
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