Prompt 2

Word count: 514

The two essay films I will be discussing are Do You Want to Go for a Drive (2016) and The Gleaners and I (2000). 

These two essay films are wildly different stylistically and with the content being discussed. Gallagher’s piece looks at relationships and the importance of consent but discusses these topics in a more engaging way than just presenting facts and statistics. 

Do You Want to Go for a Drive (2016) is a one-shot take looking out of the window of a moving car pointed up at the sky. On top of this footage is text telling a story of a person in a new relationship where they feel safe, paired with animated drawings that match the story being told. Because of how the piece was crafted, we never learn any names of characters or even their gender, yet it feels so personal that the underlying messages about consent and its importance shine through. It is subtle and simple, but the subtext throughout makes it a beautiful exploration of personal relationships and past experiences. Gallagher subverts audience expectations in the way she tells the story, as it begins as a romantic moment between two people, and then pivots, bringing up a moment of sexual assault, attempting to leave the audience with a feeling of shock. The creative choices in this piece were something I quite enjoyed, as it felt gentle and unique, straying from the documentary-aligned format that most people may associate with the essay film genre. It was the first example I connected with that did not have some sort of voiceover or dialogue. 

The Gleaners and I (2000) is an immensely different piece, which follows Agnes Varda’s personal documentation of modern gleaning, which is a form of gathering from what is considered the leftovers. Weaved into this fascinating exploration of what is a very niche and foreign topic (especially for countries like Australia) is a self-exploration of Varda’s experience with aging and her own way of filmmaking. Taking a more documentary format, she uses a handheld camera and follows a rather unconventional approach to filming her subjects. Unlike Do You Want to Go for a Drive (2016) which appeared to be well scripted and planned tediously, Varda uses a method which she calls “cinema writing” in which everything is up to chance. She does not have a detailed itinerary, but rather approaches the subject of gleaning and people with curiosity and sees where that mindset guides her. The craft of this piece means that whilst the audience becomes aware of the topic of the film early on, they can never exactly predict who or what will show up, as demonstrated by the vegetarian man at the end who we meet at the market and learn later that he volunteers as a literature teacher at his housing building in his own free time. The creative curiosity that Varda brings to this film is something I found to be very engaging, and the fact that she is just enjoying herself as she goes along the journey makes the piece emulate a familiarity or friendliness that was unexpected. 

References 

• Gallagher, K 2016 Do You Want to Go for a Drive [motion picture]
• Varda, A 2000 The Gleaners and I [motion picture]