Slideshow
LA POINTE COURTE
France, 1955
Directed by Agnès Varda
Starring Silvia Monfort, Philippe Noiret
In French with English subtitles
Approx. 80 min.
Made on a shoestring budget, Varda’s debut film LA POINTE COURTE foreshadowed the Nouvelle Vague and introduced her uniquely personal approach to blending documentary and fictional elements. Filmed on location in the fishing village of Sète, the movie follows two stories unfolding in counterpoint (inspired by the structure of William Faulkner’s The Wild Palms): a young city couple tries to salvage their marriage, while the local fishermen face their daily economic hardships.
Presented with support from The George Fasel Memorial Fund for Classic French Cinema
Preceded by
Tribute to Zgougou the Cat
France, 2002
Directed by Agnès Varda
In French with English subtitles
Approx. 2 mins.
A tribute by Varda to her beloved cat Zgougou, “an old angel with a kitten’s soul. Queen... sphinx... beauty.”
Reviews
“The first film of the French Nouvelle Vague. Its interplay between conscience, emotions, and the real world make it a direct antecedent of HIROSHIMA, MON AMOUR.”
– George Sadoul
“The first work of a talented young woman... [LA POINTE COURTE] is also the first chime of a huge carillon... [It] proves to us that for the generation to which Miss Varda belongs, cinema has become a means of expression, just like the pen and the brush.”
– Jean de Baroncelli, Le Monde
“There is a total freedom to the style, which produces the impression, so rare in the cinema, that we are in the presence of a work that obeys only the dreams and desires of its auteur with no other external obligations. Everything is simple and natural and at the same time pared-down and composed.”
– Andre Bazin