Slideshow
VAGABOND
France, 1985
Directed by Agnès Varda
Starring Sandrine Bonnaire
In French with English subtitles
Approx. 105 min.
Sandrine Bonnaire is astonishing as the defiant young drifter Mona, found frozen to death in a ditch at the beginning of VAGABOND. With a structure inspired by CITIZEN KANE, Varda pieces together Mona’s story through flashbacks told by those who encountered her (played by a largely nonprofessional cast), producing a splintered portrait of an enigmatic woman. With its stark poetic imagery, VAGABOND won Varda the top prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Presented with support from The George Fasel Memorial Fund for Classic French Cinema
Followed by
The Story of an Old Lady
France, 2003
Directed by Agnès Varda
In French with English subtitles
4 mins.
Varda revisits actress Marthe Jarnias, who plays the mischievous old aunt who gets drunk with Sandrine Bonnaire in VAGABOND.
Reviews
“Varda herself does not judge or condemn anyone. She merely bears witness to one of the insoluble problems of the contemporary world, a problem not so much of the homeless as of the hopeless. VAGABOND provides no easy answers, but like all great works, it doesn’t shrink from the task of asking the most difficult questions. The brilliance of Varda’s art enables her to avoid the sin of despair. Despite its mystifyingly disastrous course, VAGABOND is an exhilarating experience, the like of which transcends all formulas, conventions and preconceptions. For the moment, it is clearly the picture of the year.”
– Andrew Sarris, The Village Voice
“Miss Bonnaire presents Mona’s inconsistencies with brilliant subtlety, her solemn eyes and stiff body capturing the tension of a life in which every meal, every night’s sleep, becomes an ordeal.”
– Caryn James, The New York Times