The Gleaners and I~ Internalizing

The Gleaners painted by Jean-Francois Millet

Gleaning: To scrounge the left over and unwanted items.  Usually food after a harvest.

The Gleaners and I (2000) by Agnes Varda is charmingly enigmatic.  The film seems to be entirely the musings of a tiny, aging, artsy French woman.  Agnes Varda travels around France with a small camera not unlike a GL2 to seek out the modern equivalents of the subjects in Millet’s painting, The Gleaners. The Gleaners and I is the sort of film adventure that isn’t out to prove too much.  What it does is allow you to follow along for the ride and internalize some of the things she discovers. 

Agnes Varda finds people all across the gleaning spectrum.  Some glean out of necessity, others for hobby, some for ethical reasons, and others because of tradition.  She also seeks out perspectives from both sides.  She visits the judicial courts and finds that there are current laws that still protect the “rights” of gleaners.  She visits the owners of the fields and orchards and hears their relationship with the gleaners.  I was surprised to find that many welcomed the practice and just asked that they stay 10 yards behind their own harvesters etc.

Varda’s film provides several interpretations or degrees of gleaning.  It makes you look at your life and try to see where you fall on the chart.  Ebay, thrift stores, and garage sales are all part of it to some level.  Dumpster Diving behind Krispy Kreme for donuts is not an unheard of…bonding experience here in Provo.  While there are certain levels of gleaning that I saw in the film that I am grateful I do not need to do, it does make you want to reevaluate how much you are wasting.  What are some ways we can cut down?  There is a level when things should be thrown away and not turned into milk carton flowers.  However, I commend the intent.  One of the stories that I really liked from the film was the gourmet chef who gleans for herbs and fresh produce.  He isn’t above being economical for the sake of luxury.  In fact he finds that he has more control over his produce.  He also doesn’t waste anything in his restaurant.  Bones get used for soup stalk, excess vegetables get used for pestos etc.

While her film is more of a “musing” film than an activist film, it is unavoidable to internalize the concept.  The Gleaners and I shows enough degrees of “gleaning,” that it is hard not to identify at some level.  Doing so almost makes it a much more powerful activist piece than others.