Should you watch The Gleaners and I?
Who it’s good for, who it isn’t, and what’s in it. No ratings, no scores.

The Gleaners and I
Documentary · 2000
Varda focuses her eye on gleaners: those who scour already-reaped fields for the odd potato or turnip. Her investigation leads from forgotten corners of the French countryside to off-hours at the green markets of Paris, following those who insist on finding a use for that which society has cast off, whether out of necessity or activism.
The sides of The Gleaners and I
- Agnès Varda with a small digital camera
- People picking up what fields and markets leave behind
- Heart shaped potatoes
The Gleaners and I is good for you if…
- you like meeting real people who live off what others throw away.
- you like Varda herself, filming her own hands and her own age.
- you want a gentle, curious film that wanders where it likes.
The Gleaners and I is bad for you if…
- you won't read subtitles to hear Varda and the gleaners talk in French.
- you need momentum. Varda stops to film trucks on the road and a clock with no hands.
About: waste · ageing · what we keep
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