ONE SINGS, THE OTHER DOESN'T (L'une chante, l'autre pas) (1977) - ♦♦♦♦
Directed by - Agnés Varda
Written by - Agnés Varda
Starring - Therese Liotard, Valerie Mairesse, Robert Dadies
"AGNES VARDA is regarded as one of the most symbolic and important feminist filmmakers of any generation. Her concerns with female issues in her works reached a peak in the seventies, a time in which the French filmmakers was particularly prolific, often even involved in many production at the same time, and alternating between fiction films and documentaries, in order not to lose touch with reality and give into cinematic sheen.
While ONE SINGS, THE OTHER DOESN'T is not her most strong voiced of such films, it is probably one of the most successful, and despite the large time frame it covers, and with it the evolution of female rights, it represents its great ambition with wonderful simplicity that is all the easier to connect with.
ONE SINGS, THE OTHER DOESN'T is the story of friendship between two women, Pomme and Suzanne, who meet in the sixties. Their friendship intensifies after the first helps the other find money to get her third abortion. After that, however, they lose contact, but meet again ten years later. VARDA follows their parallel stories during this time, different and yet similar. One moves back to the country with her parents where she raises her kids and becomes a serious community worker, the other joins the counter cultural movement, plays her music on the road and meets a modern Iranian male who seems one person in France and quite anothe in Iran, where the couple decide to move to have their baby.
VARDA's feature overflows with humanity, and its story is as much about its two leading character as much as it is about exposing the flaws of the patriarchal society. For instance, at the start of the film, Suzette's third unplanned pregnancy with a photographer is as much a blow to her as it is to him, and the way in which he wraps himself in his own insecurities can only lead to tragic consequences.
Despite her film always remaining quite rooted in realism without giving into an over-melodramatic air, even in its most dramatic circumstances, ONE SINGS, THE OTHER DOESN'T reserves some moments of distinctive cinematic beauty, most of which make use of Pomme's feminist songs, performed on the street and in small theatres. This is just a further testimony to the fact that despite it being made in 1977, it is not the typical drama presenting harsh realism with pessimist grit, but carrying over some of the hopelessness, freedom and independence of the politically aware art of the sixties."
Drama, Venezuela/France/Belgium
