The Gleaners and I · reception & legacy
2000 · Agnès Varda
How The Gleaners and I has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
No flop-to-classic story here — it was embraced immediately, sweeping critics' non-fiction prizes after its 2000 Cannes premiere. But its stature has kept climbing: Sight & Sound's 2014 poll ranked it among the greatest documentaries ever made, and Varda's late-career beatification turned it into her signature work for a whole new generation.
What's debated
The friendly cinephile dispute it fuels is less 'is it good?' than 'is it THE one' — the best Varda entry point over Cléo from 5 to 7, and a contender for the greatest documentary of its era.
Its footprint
The heart-shaped potato became Varda's personal emblem — she built art installations around it and even showed up at Venice dressed as a potato. The film also helped legitimize the tiny consumer digital camera as a serious cinematic tool, paving the way for two decades of first-person essay documentaries.
Where it stands
A stone-cold documentary canon entry and a Letterboxd darling — the film people hand you when they want to prove nonfiction cinema can be playful, personal, and profound at once.