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KUNG-FU MASTER!

( 1988 )
Special Program, Homage to Jane Birkin |
 
France
 |
 French, English |
 80 min

About the film

Made concurrently with Jane B. for Agnès V (1988), this daring film by Agnès Varda and Jane Birkin (who wrote the story that provided the inspiration for the film) explores the unconventional love between a middle-aged woman, portrayed by Birkin, and a 14-year-old video game enthusiast, played by Varda's son, Mathieu Demy.

Director

Agnès Varda

When Agnès Varda passed away, it was hard to believe that she had surpassed the age of ninety. She was so fresh and vibrant that even in her latest years, her films attracted audiences, and she always talked about her plans for upcoming projects. Yet, Varda’s name remained best known for her remarkable films: Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) and Vagabond (1985). Both films are portraits of women, a genre in which she excelled, given that she was a strong member of the French New Wave and its first generation. Even if her film Jacques de Nantes that was dedicated to her husband the great filmmaker Jacques Demy was a masterpiece, Varda’s exceptional portrayals of women remain her greatest talent. 

Producer

Oury Milshtein

Production Company

Screenplay

Agnès Varda, Jane Birkin

Cinematography

Pierre-Laurent Chénieux

Editing

Marie-Jo Audiard

Sound

Olivier Schwob

Cast

Jane Birkin, Mathieu Demy, Charlotte Gainsbourg

Contacts

Bivolis, international@bivolis.com

Producer

Oury Milshtein

Production Company

Screenplay

Agnès Varda, Jane Birkin

Cinematography

Pierre-Laurent Chénieux

Editing

Marie-Jo Audiard

Sound

Olivier Schwob

Cast

Jane Birkin, Mathieu Demy, Charlotte Gainsbourg

Contacts

Bivolis, international@bivolis.com

More About Film

This film was made concurrently with the filming of Jane B. for Agnes V. about Jane Birkin in the previous year. In the end, it seems like a family film, created by the relationship between the two artists and their shared desire to tell an emotional story about impossible love, emotions, and relationships between humans in a film that would be based on the participation of their family members, especially Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon, Jane’s daughters, and Mathieu, Agnès’ son from her husband, director Jacques Demy. The humans here are represented in particular by Marie-Jeanne (Birkin), who discovers during a party thrown by her teenage daughter Lucy (Charlotte) for her classmates, her strange attachment to Lucy’s friend Julien, who is no more than 14 years old. He is a handsome boy who seems more attached to the video game Kung-Fu Master than anything else, eager to become its hero. Importantly, from here, the relationship between Marie-Jeanne and Julien grows shyly and slowly at first, and that relationship becomes intertwined and escalates gradually, carrying in the end a great deal of passion for the “lovers” and a greater amount of confusion for Julien’s mother on the one hand and Marie-Jeanne’s daughters on the other, through moments of explosion that almost destroy the two sides of the relationship. However, things will end one day, but especially for Julien, who, after his long passion for Marie-Jeanne, will not hesitate to say when asked if there was a lover in his life, he would answer: Yes, but she was just a woman whose life was so boring that she found the antidote in him and ended up having sex with him! Ibrahim Al Ariss

Producer

Oury Milshtein

Screenplay

Agnès Varda, Jane Birkin

Cinematography

Pierre-Laurent Chénieux

Editing

Marie-Jo Audiard

Sound

Olivier Schwob

Cast

Jane Birkin, Mathieu Demy, Charlotte Gainsbourg

Contact

Bivolis, international@bivolis.com

More About Film

This film was made concurrently with the filming of Jane B. for Agnes V. about Jane Birkin in the previous year. In the end, it seems like a family film, created by the relationship between the two artists and their shared desire to tell an emotional story about impossible love, emotions, and relationships between humans in a film that would be based on the participation of their family members, especially Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lou Doillon, Jane's daughters, and Mathieu, Agnès' son from her husband, director Jacques Demy. The humans here are represented in particular by Marie-Jeanne (Birkin), who discovers during a party thrown by her teenage daughter Lucy (Charlotte) for her classmates, her strange attachment to Lucy's friend Julien, who is no more than 14 years old. He is a handsome boy who seems more attached to the video game Kung-Fu Master than anything else, eager to become its hero. Importantly, from here, the relationship between Marie-Jeanne and Julien grows shyly and slowly at first, and that relationship becomes intertwined and escalates gradually, carrying in the end a great deal of passion for the "lovers" and a greater amount of confusion for Julien's mother on the one hand and Marie-Jeanne's daughters on the other, through moments of explosion that almost destroy the two sides of the relationship. However, things will end one day, but especially for Julien, who, after his long passion for Marie-Jeanne, will not hesitate to say when asked if there was a lover in his life, he would answer: Yes, but she was just a woman whose life was so boring that she found the antidote in him and ended up having sex with him! Ibrahim Al Ariss