Review of The Gleaners and I (2000) by Benjamin F — 10 Oct 2008

The first film I've seen by French New Wave director Agnes Varda, though a documentary, obviously, rather than a fictional narrative story for entertainment. The film focuses on the gleaners - people living on the fringes of French society and thriving on the excesses others have discarded, whether the leftovers of farmers' harvests, expired and day-old food in dumpsters, or discarded furniture, televisions, and so forth, left out to be hauled away and ultimately either being fixed and going to use in someone's home, sold, or used in the creation of contemporary art.

Varda speaks to a lot of interesting people and gives the viewer a great deal of insight into the gleaning subculture over the course of the film, from its historical roots - including its impact on more classical artwork - to the sorts of people gleaning now, whether out of necessity or by choice.

She threw in some interesting, personal asides as well that mostly worked, and in general, the film is simply an enjoyable portrait of the French gleaning subculture. It gives you a lot to think about in how society functions, and how much we truly waste the excesses we take for granted.

Especially interesting as an American, where we don't exactly have laws supporting things like this, and people would generally look down on this sort of behavior.