Sandrine
Bonnaire, Macha Meril, Stéphane Freiss, Yolande Moreau, Laurence
Cortadellas, Marthe Jarnias
Vagabond, directed by
Agnes Varda is the dark disturbing story of a female drifter named
Mona (Sandrine Bonnaire). The film opens as Mona's frozen body is
found in a drainage ditch and proceeds to tell her story in a series
of flashbacks and semi-documentary style "interviews"
with the people who have known Mona during the last few weeks of
her life. Mona is a distant, independent and not-very-likeable woman
who goes from place to place, living where she can and with anyone
who will take her in. Mona's true nature remains a puzzle, both
to those who thought they knew her, and to the audience. As the
movie progresses it becomes clear that no one knew the true Mona
and she, because of her aloofness and essential coldness, provided
a canvas for those she met to write upon. Who Mona really was, and
what she thought remains ambiguous. Sandrine Bonnaire is excellent
as Mona, making an unappealing and cold character interesting and
intriguing. Director Agnes Varda began her career as a still photographer.
This beginning is evident in her elegant framing of the film. She
has an instinctive awareness of and a photographer's eye for visual
detail which makes the film cold, bleak, and aridly beautiful. Internationally
acclaimed, Vagabond is Varda's most successful film. |