a review of 拾穗者

my first varda except for the two minute cat one...and count me all the way in. (p.s. i realize i've seen the black panthers one as well.) this was batty af, and also beautiful, and truly mesmerizing to watch her merge so many story lines together so seamlessly. like, when she's filming her hand and talking about it, it was clear right away what she was talking about and why. she beautifully lays out in front of us the terrible greed and waste inherent in societies with class oppression. (the propertied class would often rather destroy leftover crops than allow people to get something for "free".) (ain't real life pretty much the most grim horror story of them all.) BUT, the film isn't grim, or negative, or bitter at all. it's gorgeous and brilliantly centers the vibrant response some people have to the oppression of capitalism. make use of every single discarded thing (legally and illegally) and do whatever possible to exist outside the system that seeks to exploit and destroy us all. it's a brilliant politic, painted without a shred of pretension. just pure human ingenuity and expression. love.