While doing research on Agnes Varda and her films a subject that continuously appeared in feminist analyzes was the idea of the female gaze and the revolution of Varda's film for the purpose of removing the male gaze simply by producing her own work.
In this article the author questions the difference between Varda's female gaze projected onto a male subject and if it can be compared to Godard's male gaze projected onto a female subject. I personally believe they are incomparable, as Varda is flipping the pre-conceived power roles of man and woman, while Godard is working from behind these roles.
In Le Bonheur, Varda challenges this view of male behavior at every turn. She simply presents a man and his actions, with little conjecture as the director. Without a clear judgement on him within the film, the audience must make their own. As the traditional judgement on a man committing infidelity is historically less damning than the judgement on a woman who may commit the same act, the audience is most likely to take the passive stance the film does. That is until Varda reveals her true feminist stance, which is not passive in the least. After first showing a submissive wife, able to forgive and excuse her husbands behavior, she reveals the emotion below the surface. The death of Therese Chevalier highlights the confrontation between societal expectations and the reality of an intimate matter such as marriage and infidelity. She separates the two, allowing Therese to express happiness in the moments after her husband admits to an extramarital affair, while under the watchful eye of Francois. But while alone, the reality is too burdensome. The conflict between the private and public, even thought he public is intimate itself, is strong.
Varda is not necessarily condemning Francois, however, or making a saint of Therese. They are both characters living inside these societal restraints, taking drastic measures to free themselves. To tell the story from Francois's point of view is interesting after Varda has created a film such as Cleo from 5 to 7, which is told solely from the point of view of Cleo. Varda's idea of a muse or narrator is expanded in this film.
For my next essay, I am choosing to build on the topic of filmmakers and their muses. While previously I analyzed the complex dynamics of male directors and their wives as muses in their films, I would like to update this idea in the present day with an expanding film industry. The industry has become more inclusive to hold the narratives and views of female film-makers and female driven narrations alike. From this we have seen new and exciting works by female and non-binary filmmakers, conveying stories outside of the male gaze. In my next essay I would like to analyze the platonic relationship between female and non-binary filmmakers and their female muses.
Most notably the films of Jill Soloway and her muse Kathryn Hahn, and Greta Gerwig and her muse Saoirse Ronan.
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