Mur Murs

Agnès Varda's documentary about the murals of Los Angeles. There are thousands of murals in the city. Varda goes round them one by one: church walls, the side elevations of shops, underpasses, school yards. The camera shows the paintings and then goes to the people who made them. Among those who speak are professional artists and neighbourhood groups. Murals by the Mexican community, work in Black neighbourhoods, religious groups and advertising paintings commissioned by companies all stand side by side. The idea is that these paintings are not on a museum wall but in the street, and who painted what shows directly who lives there. A mural here is less an art form than a claim to existence. Varda narrates in her own voice and at times animates the paintings, placing real people where the figures are and building the same frame. The film is a product of her period in America and is counted a companion to the fiction film she made in the same years. A valuable record for anyone who likes documentary, street art and Varda. For a viewer expecting a narrative, the film tells no story; the structure is entirely wandering and conversation.