From Agnes Varda’s The Beaches of Agnes to Suzhou River, Reversal of Fortune, In Bed With Victoria and Zero Fucks Given, check out all the films that Ranjan Das recommends that you must see!

AGNES VARDA’S THE BEACHES OF AGNES

This is an autobiographical essay by the legendary French filmmaker Agnes Varda made to commemorate her 80th birthday in which she traces her filmmaking career and associations in a freewheeling manner, starting from the genesis of the French New Wave. The most poignant segment in the film is her remembrance of her husband Jacques Demy – another iconic French director – and his death due to AIDS. She recounts the manner in which her family dealt with the impending death without making any efforts to find out about the cause, thus respecting his privacy. This is European sensibility at its most compassionate – and refined.

One need not be versed with the oeuvre of Agnes Varda in order to appreciate the beauty of the film. It’s a love letter to cinema and life.
Check out the trailer here:

Watch it on MUBI

A GORGEOUS FILM FROM CHINA  

A young motorbike courier and small-time crook in search of his lost love forms the core of the plot of Lou Ye’s SUZHOU RIVER (2000), China, but intertwined with it is his involvement in her botched kidnapping that results in her disillusionment and apparent suicide, the murder of one of the gangsters, and his subsequent incarceration and release after years.

This gritty urban tale set in the seedier sides of a booming megalopolis – Shanghai and its eponymous river evokes a plethora of urban myths, including mermaids and doppelgangers, and creates a mood that is neo-noirish, suffused with a sense of mystery that fluctuates between hope and hopelessness. The influence of Hitchcock’s VERTIGO (1958) and the cinema of Wong-Kar Wai is unmistakable, especially in its cinematography. To that, I would also add the influence of the freewheeling style of the French New Wave.

This beautiful, doomed love story, marked by its distinctive style and mood, is streaming on MUBI. Not to be missed. 

A GLEN CLOSE, JEREMY IRONS DRAMA

A socialite woman (Glenn Close) sinks into irreversible coma and her dissolute husband (Jeremy Irons in an Oscar-winning role) is accused of attempted to murder – which he seems to have every reason to. Enter law professor Alan Dershowitz (played brilliantly by Ron Silver) hired by the husband, and what unfolds is an unravelling of an intriguing plot that switches between the immediate past and present. With an innovative screenplay and skilful direction, the US film REVERSAL OF FORTUNE (1990) by Barbet Schroeder, works up a delightful representation of a real-life incident, based on the book of the same name written by Alan Dershowitz himself – a celebrated criminal lawyer whose client list also includes O. J. Simpson.

Check out the trailer here:

This captivating ‘coma’ mystery is streaming on Amazon Prime.

IT IS A JUSTINE TRIET FILM

Victoria is a Paris-based criminal lawyer with two kids. As she goes about her days, she has to juggle between fighting her ex-husband who is writing a book on their relationship, exposing all their secrets, defending a friend accused of physical assault by his partner; trying to seek sexual relationships through dating sites, and a potential love affair, which she does not know how to deal with – apart from sundry other issues, all screwing up her life. IN BED WITH VICTORIA (2016) from France, by Justine Triet is a whirlwind of a film that looks at a modern woman caught in the vortex of a demanding urban life, trying to arrive at a balance that eludes her.

Check out the trailer here:

This vibrant and charming film is streaming on MUBI

A MELANCHOLIC EXPERIENCE FROM BELGIUM 

Cassandra is a 26-year-old flight attendant working at a low-cost airliner, consumed with grief from her mother’s death in an accident, drifting between situations involving blind dates, partying and doing her job with an efficiency that is monotonous and low-paying. Adele Exarchopoulos (of ‘Blue is the Warmest Colour’ fame) who plays the lead brings out the existential dilemma with a seasoned efficiency and a disarming charm.

ZERO FUCKS GIVEN (2021) from Belgium, by debutantes Emmanuel Marre and Julie Lecoustre is an honest portrayal of a world consumed by melancholy amidst the seemingly randomness of its events, seeking a relevance that is elusive.  

Streaming on MUBI