The Complete Podcast

Matt and Travis wrap up their Varda journey with a very special guest. Valeria Rotella produced the bible that was used throughout this season: The Complete Films of Agnès Varda from the Criterion Collection. We discuss her own relationship with Varda’s work, her job as a producer for home media, and the box itself – perhaps the best thing Criterion has released to date. We hope you enjoy the conversation and this season!

We’ll be back with a new director soon!

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Matt Gasteier: Letterboxd

Travis Trudell: Letterboxd

Varda’s final film is the summation of her career – literally. As with her penultimate work, this documentary was prompted by Varda’s daughter Rosalie, who suggested that Agnès tell her own story rather than have someone tell it for her. We discuss the relative structure of this autobiographical work with the earlier Beaches of Agnès, Varda’s evolving reputation as she moved into the final years of her life, and why you should display proper posture when sitting in the front row. We hope you have enjoyed this journey, and we will have a very special guest for the wrap up episode next month!

The Complete Social: Facebook | Find us on Instagram @thecompletepod!

Matt Gasteier: Letterboxd

Travis Trudell: Letterboxd

Varda’s most well-known film from the last two decades of her life, Faces Places is a film collaboration with artist J.R. A warm both of a film, Faces Places is an exploration of the French countryside and the unexpected combination of two very different artists who are nevertheless united in their love of people. Matt and Travis discuss the film’s conventional style – and how unconventional of a description that is for an average Varda film. We also go off on quite a tangent! We hope you enjoy.

Referenced on the show: Why Culture Has Come to a Standstill

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Matt Gasteier: Letterboxd

Travis Trudell: Letterboxd

A running theme with Varda’s 21st century work is the unusual nature of its conception and/or execution, and From Here to There plays right into this pattern. Created out of Varda’s own recordings of her travels and encounters with artists of all types throughout the world, this miniseries presents Varda as curious consumer and globe-trotting ambassador for the novel and bold. Matt and Travis discuss the unusual nature of the film and dive into the notion of modern art and Varda’s relationship with it.

The Complete Social: Facebook | Find us on Instagram @thecompletepod!

Matt Gasteier: Letterboxd

Travis Trudell: Letterboxd

For the 21st episode of season five, Matt and Travis cover one of the most extraordinary autobiographical documentaries in film history, The Beaches of Agnès. We discuss Varda’s love of beaches, her unusual and free-flowing structure, and her uncanny ability to piece it all together in a graceful and intellectually stimulating final package. This is one of Varda’s most complex and popular works, and it was great fun to unpack.

The Complete Social: Facebook | Find us on Instagram @thecompletepod!

Matt Gasteier: Letterboxd

Travis Trudell: Letterboxd