Mur Murs

About ten years after her previous stay, Agnès Varda returned to Los Angeles in 1979 and made this portrait of the city through the medium of its walls. Walls that live, breathe, talk, and murmur, as she describes in a voice-over. One of Los Angeles’ many nicknames is “the mural capital of America”, and the murals serve not only as a backdrop but also as a voice for life in the city.

The murals make the city into an open-air museum, where people excluded from the traditional art world make their voices heard. From the roller skaters of Venice Beach to the Black community of St. Elmo’s and the Chicano art movement, Varda travels through the neighborhoods, exploring the subcultures and communities of Los Angeles.

She lets the artists share their vision and even has the painted figures “walk out” of their portraits. Above all, she gives a voice to the murals themselves—some of them a form of protest, others a way to dream, a means of remembrance, or simply a way to make life a little more beautiful.