Ydessa, the Bears and etc...

Once in a while you stumble upon a film that exceeds all your expectations. A documentary about a collection of photographs of teddy bears does not sound like an interesting subject. At least I did not expect much.

Varda walked into an exhibition of photos of teddy bears, Ydessa Hendeles' Teddy Bear Project. Ydessa has collected photos of people with their Teddy Bears and what we discover when looking at those photos is often the dark nature of humanity. Yes teddy bears are cute and innocent but they can stand for so much more than that. Take the photos of people with guns aimed at teddy bears, or nudes with teddy bears. The innocence is not always so obvious and often it becomes a ironic comment, to underline the absence of innocence.

The walls are full of pictures of people with their teddy bears in black frames, almost like a collection of caskets, an overwhelming funeral procession. Then we walk into a room with empty walls and a statue of Hitler kneeling in the middle in a prayer, innocent looking, like a small school boy. No teddy bear here. This image is so interesting in the context of the photos we saw in the other two rooms before it. It pushes us to look at the photos anew in different light.

Varda takes us on this fascinating journey through this exhibition but she also interviews people at the exhibition and asks them how it affected them. We also get to know the ultra strange and mysterious Ydessa Hendeles who lives alone in a adventurous house full of beautiful art and strange things.

Brilliant film from master Varda.