Jane B. par Agnès V.

In her “imaginary biopic,” Agnès Varda filmed actor Jane Birkin in a range of self-invented roles, from classical muse, femme fatale and Jeanne of Arc to Calamity Jane and Tarzan’s Jane—though she’s not keen on the latter role, as she’d rather be Mowgli. Varda also composes stunning tableaux vivants of Goya paintings, in which Birkin plays a bold servant who finally gets to take center stage.

For this inspired collaborative project, Varda spent a year in Birkin’s home. Jane B. par Agnès V. is not only a portrait of Birkin but just as much of Varda herself. It seems as if she is the orchestrator, with Birkin as the passive subject to be framed. But who is truly the auteur, and who is directing whom?

Varda has Birkin empty the contents of two handbags onto the street to get to know her better, at which Birkin remarks: “When you show it all, you reveal very little.” Throughout the film, Varda blurs the boundary between fact and fantasy, between intimacy and mystery.