Oncle Yanco

A gentle tribute to an older relative of Agnès Varda, a man she'd never met who in 1967 was living on a makeshift houseboat among other artists and hippies in Sausalito. There are little flashes of Varda's beautiful touch, such as that transparent red heart, but overall this one didn't dazzle me as so much of her other work does. Uncle Yanco comments on the peace movement, the family tree, how he perceives art, the need to connect to nature via sailing, and how "hell is doing what you don't want to," the latter after getting up from a nap. It's pretty fascinating to see the colors in his artwork and relate them to the Director's use of color in her films, and it's clear they are kindred spirits. Perhaps his lament that "there is a tragic difference between what you imagine and what you paint" is universal to all artists as well. It's inoffensive in its 18 minute run time, but not all that stirring, despite what I assume had great personal meaning to Varda.

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.

Varda wisely pulled the plug on this old windbag twenty minutes in. Some nice Hippie eye candy, though.

Since Agnès Varda died recently, I decided to watch one of her movies. "Oncle Yanco" ("Uncle Yanco" in English) is a short documentary that the cineaste made during a brief stay in California. The focus is a relative of hers from Greece, now living a hippie lifestyle in Sausalito and respected by his community.

One thing that Yanco - actually named Jean Varda - mentions is that Greece was under a military junta at the time. This man was well informed about the world. Varda herself appears briefly in the doc to introduce Yanco. It's not any sort of deep philosophical work, but it's hard not to like seeing someone get to meet a long lost relative on the other side of the world. Definitely see it.

While in California, Varda made a documentary about a Black Panther rally the following year. Also see that one.