One Sings, the Other Doesn’t

1977, 120 minutes
Venezuela, France, Belgium

Director: Agnès Varda

Cast: Valérie Mairesse, Thérèse Liotard, and Ali Rafie

Agnès Varda’s singular One Sings, the Other Doesn’t, is a feminist musical about the bond of sisterhood, set against the progress of the women’s movement in which Agnes Varda was involved. Spanning more than a decade, it traces the intertwined lives of Pomme (Valérie Mairesse) and Suzanne (Thérèse Liotard) throughout years of changes and fraught relationships with men. They meet when Pomme helps Suzanne obtain an abortion, which she cannot afford. They lose contact but meet again ten years later. Even as their lives radically diverge, they remain steadfastly devoted to one another while finding ways to empower other women: one as a traveling feminist folk singer, the other as a reproductive rights activist.

Don’t miss this enchanting 2K digital restoration from the original negative, with restoration and color grading done under the supervision of Agnès Varda.

Four Stars: “One of the most appealing films by a French director whose best work has always found a balance between the heart and the mind.”
— Roger Ebert