LIONS, LOVE (… LIES)

France, 1969, 110 minutes, Colour.
Viva, Jerry Ragni, James Rado, Shirley Clarke, Eddie Constantine, Peter Bogdanovich.
Directed by Agnes Varda.

Agnes Varda, photographer, film director, commentator on 20th century life, died at the age of 90 in 2019. She made significant films in her later years, her last two films, Faces/Places and the documentary reviewing her whole life, Agnes by Varda.

Initially a photographer, then moving to film, Agnes Varda began to make documentaries in the late 1950s and, over the coming decades, a number of feature films including Cleo from 5 to 7, Happiness and Vagabond. But her main work was in short films and in documentary.

She worked for some time in the United States, especially in Los Angeles, with a feature documentary, Lions, Love (Lies…), a rather free-flowing look at California and, especially, Los Angeles in the 1960s, the effect of changes in that decade, greater freedoms, the hippie movement. It focused on three characters, Andy Warhol’s actress, Viva, as well as the two authors/composers of the musical, Hair, Gerome Ragni and James Rado. The three lived together, rather uninhibitedly, especially with swimming pool and bedroom scenes, as well is commonplace domestic episodes.

They welcome the independent director, Shirley Clarke, to stay with them while she meets producers and executives to get money for her next feature – with some satiric sequences for the discussions of the producers, one giving the familiar arguments about money and control, another making a plea for the freedom for the director.

Agnes Varda is there, continually with her camera, encouraging the performers to be creative, to improvise.

And, there is a great deal of talk. The film opens with two performers with the play The Beard, and a focus on the audience. The three central characters have opinions on many aspects of contemporary American culture, the arts. At one stage, the three take on the roles of mystical saints, St Augustine, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, sitting together and reciting, quite extensively, some of their reflections on God and spirituality.

There is also quite some discussion with Shirley Clarke about contemporary art, filmmaking, finance – with Shirley Clarke playing a fictitious variation on her own character, from New York, enjoying California, especially with her range of clothes.

Some audiences found it intriguing, just going with the flow. Other audiences found the flow to unfocused – and the characters rather self-indulgent.

Nevertheless, a milestone in the career of Agnes Varda.