When Agnès Varda filmed Pier Paolo Pasolini in New York City
The 20th century saw the emergence of innumerable pioneers who changed the trajectory of cinema forever. However, there are few who can rival the influence of auteurs, such as Agnès Varda and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Through masterpieces like Varda’s Vagabond and Pasolini’s Teorema, both directors revolutionised the cinematic medium and paved the way for innovative artistic expressions from multiple generations of artists.
While there are interesting interactions between their respective filmographies when it comes to philosophical subjects like art’s relationship with reality, the most fascinating interaction was an actual conversation between the two giants. Shot in 1967, Varda actually filmed 16mm footage of Pasolini walking through the streets of New York when he was there to present his incredible 1966 gem, The Hawks and the Sparrows.
Shot on 42nd Street, Varda’s vision of New York City has all the characteristics that make her unique visual language completely transcendental. The camera focuses on a contemplative Pasolini, while also floating from one subject to another. As is the case with almost all depictions of the legendary urban centre, the city’s singular frenzied energy emanates from the screen and becomes an all-encompassing atmospheric entity.
“There’s no difference between reality and fiction because cinema is reality expressing itself through itself,” Pasolini muses. “In reality, I can photograph a man walking down a street. He’s not aware that he’s being filmed, and this is reality. If I choose an actor to play that man, then there’s another reality, the actor’s reality. But it’s always reality, it’s never fiction. I always take an actor for what he is. I don’t like him to act. I can’t take a good man to play the role of a villain. It’s impossible for me. It’s repulsive. I always think about cinema as an audio-visual reality, and dialogue is a part of reality, a part of the image.”
When asked about his conceptualisation of Christianity, the director responded: “My relationship with religion is so dark, I can’t talk about it. I don’t have a film education. I approached movies at 40, so my culture is more figurative than cinematic… It’s not images of the Christian religion but of Italian paintings. Little by little, I abandoned my obsession with images. I’m sorry, I’m obsessed with this aesthetic, and so I have to approach a frame with the same love a painter has for his painting.”
Rescued from a box in Varda’s personal archives, Varda’s short documentary is not just a portrait of Pasolini or of New York City. The French New Wave titan always had the incredible ability to turn her art into something greater, which is why this strange compilation of fleeting images and dissolving ruminations is a fascinating time capsule that feels like it somehow contains the entire universe inside it.
Watch the footage below.
