Mur murs

In her documentaries, Agnès Varda has often explored the intersection of art and history, and the people who are part of it. This is also the case in Mur murs, in which she travels to Los Angeles to capture a number of murals and the people who created them. She pays a lot of attention to the work of artists who considered themselves part of the Chicano movement, Americans with Mexican roots. In a voice-over, Varda comments on the work, but she also lets the artists themselves speak, as well as the people who live in the neighbourhood and see the works every day. There is also music, including a performance by the Chicano punk band Los Illegals.

The title contains meaningful wordplay: Mur murs is French for “wall walls”, but it can also be read as Murmurs, an English word for “whispers”. Not only do the filmmaker and the artists talk, the murals themselves also communicate with each other – very softly.