Gleaners and I Questions

Shannon Ryan
March 3, 2009
New Millennium Studies
Blog 8: Gleaners And I response

1. I think what surprised me most about the film is that the practice of gleaning has an extensive history for various purposes (to create win, pick corn, potatoes, collect seafood on beaches, clean up trash etc.). I was amused by the film’s detail of what happens afterwards to the gleaned products such as the thrown out dolls becoming a work of art, or the potatoes and grapes becoming edible food and wine. However, what I think surprised me most about the film was that gleaning is not encouraged or legalized in a lot of professions and areas of the world.
2. Varda compares this film to gleaning by pointing out that like the gleaners who spend hours in the fields, oceans and trash dumps searching for food and items that are edible, and usable to cook or create art with, she is gathering information and footage to sort out the best shots and segments that will serve the key argument (that gleaning is a job has and will always be and essential to man’s art and diet) of her film.
3. The images of gleaning by Millet and Van Gogh differ from the video images that Varda presents in her film because Millet and Van Goh can only capture a moment of the gleaning because their medium is a still image. Thus, Millet and Van Gough’s image shows three sturdy women in the fields in what appears to be an earlier era, picking corn with all their might. Varda has a disadvantage in contrast to Van Gough and Millet, because unlike them who can use bright pastels to create better lighting, Varda has to make due with the natural lighting she has. However, she has an advantage over Millet and Van Gough through the lens of her camera versus their still frame, because she can capture the entire gleaning process and the gleaner’s response, zoom in and out on certain aspects of gleaning, mention as much history as she wants to about gleaning and conduct interviews to enlighten her audience with as much information as possible.