#0000B: VARDA, Agnès: Kung-Fu Master! (1988)

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VARDA, Agnès (France)
Kung-Fu Master! [1988]
Spine #0000B
Blu-ray


Made concurrently with Agnès Varda’s portrait of Jane Birkin, Jane B. par Agnès V., Kung-Fu Master! is a true family affair, achieving a sense of of lived-in intimacy by casting the actor’s real-life relatives, including daughters Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon, as themselves. Varda and Birkin give the familiar theme of a misunderstood couple searching for a place where their love can survive a provocative twist in this daring romance, in which Birkin (who wrote the story that provided the inspiration for the film) plays a middle-aged woman involved with a fourteen-year-old, video game–obsessed boy (Varda’s son, Mathieu Demy). The taboo relationship plays out with supreme delicacy and restraint, as Varda transforms the explosive premise into a disarmingly tender portrait of a woman’s search for lost youth.

79 minutes
Color
Monaural
in English and French
1:66:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2020
Director/Writer




Agnès Varda was 60 when she directed Kung-Fu Master!

Other Varda films in the Collection:

#0000B/#419: La Pointe Courte (1955)
#0000B: Du Côté De La Côte (1958)
#0000B: Ô Saisons, Ô Chateaux (1958)
#0000B: L'Opéra-Mouffe (1958)
#0000B/#73: Cléo From 5 To 7 (1962)
#0000B: Les Fiancés Du Pont Macdonald (1964)
#0000B: Salut Les Cubains (1964)
#0000B/#420: Le Bonheur (1965)
#0000B: Les Créatures (1966)
#0000B: Elsa La Rose (1966)
#0000B/Eclipse Series 43: Uncle Yanco (1968)
#0000B/Eclipse Series 43: Lions Love (. . . And Lies) (1969)
#0000B/Eclipes Series 43: Black Panthers (1970)
#0000B: Daguerréotypes (1975)
#0000B: Réponse De Femmes (1975)
#0000B/#978: One Sings, The Other Doesn't (1977)
#0000B: Plaisir D'Amour En Iran (1977)
#0000B/Eclipse Series 43: Documenteur (1981)
#0000B/Eclipse Series 43: Mur Murs (1981)
#0000B: Ulysse (1982)
#0000B: Les Dites Cariatides (1984)
#0000B/#74: Vagabond (1985)
#0000B: 7 P., Cuis., S. De B. . . . (À Saisir) (1985)
#0000B: T'As De Beaux Escaliers, Tu Sais (1986)
#0000B: Jane B. Par Agnès V. (1988)
#0000B: Jacquot De Nantes (1991)
#0000B: The Young Girls Turn 25 (1993)
#0000B: One Hundred And One Nights (1995)
#0000B: The World Of Jacques Demy (1995)
#0000B: The Gleaners And I (2000)
#0000B: The Gleaners And I: Two Years Later (2002)
#0000B: Le Lion Volatil (2003)
#0000B: Ydessa, Les Ours Et Etc. . . . (2004)
#0000B: The Beaches Of Agnès (2008)
#0000B: Agnès De Ci De Là Varda (2011)
#0000B: Les 3 Boutons (2015)
#0000B: Faces Places (2017)
#0000B: Varda By Agnès (2019)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Commentary

Video tribute

Documentary 1

Documentary 2

Documentary 3

Controversial altered ending

Theatrical trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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