Agnès Varda, the legendary nouvelle vague filmmaker of such greats as “Cleo From 5 to 7, “ “Vagabond, “ and “Faces Places” has sadly passed into the ether at age 90.
A statement (via the Guardian) from her family reads, “The director and artist Agnès Varda died at her home on the night of Thursday, March 29, of complications from cancer. She was surrounded by her family and friends.”
The French New Wave was a boys club – that is until a young Agnès Varda showed up to shake the party. We all know “Breathless”, “The 400 Blows”, “Contempt” and “Hiroshima Mon Amour”, but no French New Wave top five could be complete without “Cléo de 5 à 7″ a rich absorbing look at a woman embracing death and looking into the unknown. The film is a staple of feminist filmmaking and introduced to us a character that we could eerily relate to. Awaiting the results of a medical exam that could potentially lead to a stomach cancer diagnosis, Cleo wanders around the streets of Paris as themes of existentialism and mortality get played out. It’s a groundbreaking movie that gave way to one of the most iconic and important female voices in cinematic history. The boys club was forever shaken.
Far-removed from her Nouvelle Vague heydays, Agnès Varda focused on documentaries in the later part of her career, including “Faces Places” and “The Gleaners and I.” Varda didn’t seem to want to stop making movies either, she premiered “Varda by Agnes” - another non-fiction film- earlier this year at the Berlin Film Festival, for which she said was going to be her final statement due to illness.
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