Oncle Yanco

Most of us celebrate family by throwing a party. Agnes Varda does it by making a film. In this case, while she was in San Francisco, she went to Sausalito see a man mentioned in a book who had the same last name as her. It turned out to be her father's cousin.

Of course, making a film is a little more involved than throwing a party. A party may involve just showing up with some food and notifying guests. Making a film involves a crew, so Agnes brought them, and filmed the spontaneous creations and utterances of Uncle Yanco.... through a dozen takes if necessary. Spontaneity requires much preparation.

One particularly notable point of this film for me is the colors: the bright, translucent colors that recall to me the hippy culture as I knew it, in New York City's Fillmore East, and on a couple of trips to San Francisco a couple of years after this film was made. This movie captures that light perfectly.

Agnes Varda went to San Francisco to promote her film "Les Creatures". Tom Luddy on Pacific Film Archives told her : "There is a man called Varda on a boat in Sausalito. Are you related?". "I dont know, lets find out" Agnes Varda replied.

They went there on a thursday and met this Yanco (Jean Varda) who was the cousin of her fathers. So she made this little movie about this old man, living on a boat with his hippie friends, making a living as a painter.

Altogether a nice little film, a typical Varda movie.

This was an immensely charming short, like given a desert - maybe of Greek origin, who's to say - that is hardy but can melt in your mouth so easily. This Uncle Yanco, who looks like a more cheerful late era David Crosby, is someone who I'd like to think my mother needs to watch this, aside from its light tone she (and many others) would take a liking to because he has mapped put and can trace his lineage and we see a family tree. I'm always fascinated by that stuff too, where people date back to or how far we can look at someone, and in this case Varda was really "Vardas" going back to the 12 century and... well, I don't want to spoil more of the fun, right?

This is fluff, but it's made with a love and sincerity for the subject that can't be separated from how Agnes is playing with the form, down to including outtakes of a moment that she is recreating with her subject of when the two met (naturally no camera at that time, so what else is a filmmaker of her stamina going to do but recreate it). We see how it's paramount for him to sail on his boat (no motor); we see his paper creations of small works of art dealing with hid Orthodox religion; and his philosophies with a literal door opening and closing for his thoughts, like he's some side character on Sesame Street (early era I might add).

I wish I had an Uncle like Yanco, so deadpan against the Establishment (they smell so bad), so happy to be where he is in life with his family and on that house boat. Don't we all wish we had someone like this in our lives? Cinema can give us these windows into reality.

Euro doc filmmaker Agnès Varda visits a relative she knows little about. It's Jean Varda aka Uncle Yanco. He's a Greek immigrant living in America for the last 27 years. He's a bohemian artist living on a houseboat in San Francisco. He talks about history, family, friends, and his art.

I love all the houseboats and him talking about his neighbors in the opening. I guess his art is interesting in an outsider way. I still love his painted sailboat more than any of his paintings. It's an interesting look at the outsider lifestyle from a true outsider. I would like insight into his hanger-on friends. It needs scenes with them having a cook-out, a smoke-out, and a love-in. It does have Uncle Yanco interrupting that couple making out. I also want a visit with the houseboat neighbor with all the animals or that really cool looking houseboat. This is a nice little weekend visit.

In 1967, Agnes Varda visits a distant cousin in Sausalito. He pontificates, displays his collages, and discusses genealogy for anyone interested. Harmless.