Vagabond (1985)
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Synopsis: A powerful, poignant study of the last few months in the life of a female vagabond, Mona Bergeron, played in an early and coldly powerful performance by Sandrine Bonnaire. After she's discovered frozen to death at the start of the film, the story flashes back to examine Mona's effect on the... A powerful, poignant study of the last few months in the life of a female vagabond, Mona Bergeron, played in an early and coldly powerful performance by Sandrine Bonnaire. After she's discovered frozen to death at the start of the film, the story flashes back to examine Mona's effect on the people she encountered during her wanderings. Her presence becomes a catalyst, revealing society's prejudices and preconceptions--but through it all, she herself remains a cipher, a mystery unsolved. A series of ignored kindnesses and missed opportunities present themselves: a research professor who offers her part of his land and his home, a senile old lady and a kind immigrant worker offer companionship, a sympathetic housesitter is envious of her freedom and wayward lifestyle. All are passed by in Mona's unanswerable quest. As Agnes Varda's lifelong investigation into the lives of women focuses on the mysterious and essentially unknowable Mona, a string of clinical and spare poetic anecdotes, flashbacks, and interviews coalesces into a chilling mirror of society and those disenfranchised from its day-to-day workings. [More]
Genre: Foreign Films
Starring: Sandrine Bonnaire, Macha Meril, Stephane Freiss, Laurence Cortadellas, Marthe Jarnias
DVD Info
Release:
May 16, 2000
DVD Features:
- Region 1 Encoding
- Keep Case
- Widescreen
- Beautiful Color Transfer
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Agnes Varda's anatomy of a female vagabond, beautifully played by Sandrine Bonnaire, is captivating, haunting and uncompromising.
shows how there’s an inherent brutality to living without rules... without ever devolving into melodrama or didacticism
Varda alludes to both Citizen Kane and the Bible to recreate the short, disconnected life of Mona, a lost soul who has always depended on the kindness of strangers.
Focuses on the life and difficulties of a female drifter who enjoys solitude and a no-strings attached relationship with the people she encounters.
Taken as an examination of how we watch and react to the films (and the real people) that we see, it becomes transcendent.


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