One Sings, the Other Doesn't (L'Une chante, l'autre pas) (NR)

synopsis

Agnés Varda's enchanting ode to female friendship and liberation ispart blissed-out bohemian musical, part revolutionary cri de coeur.Spanning more than a decade, it traces the ups and downs -abortion,heartbreak, marriage, motherhood - of two friends, Pauline (Mairesse)and Suzanne (Liotard). Even as their lives radically diverge, theyremain steadfastly devoted to one another while finding ways toempower other women: one as a traveling feminist folk singer, theother as a reproductive rights activist. Set against France'spro-choice struggle of which Varda herself was on the frontlines thistender and intimate epic celebrates the power of women to lift oneanother up.