Vagabond begins with the discovery of a woman's corpse in a ditch. She has frozen to death in the night. Police officers lift the lifeless body out of the ditch as if it were a rigid statue. The rest of the film follows the last leg of this woman's life. We drop in on interviews with people who had come into contact with her in the recent past. Sometimes it is a police officer interviewing, sometimes the bits of information are given without solicitation, as an aside to the camera. Agnes Varda's presence is always felt behind the camera. She speaks aloud at the beginning of the film, announcing the subject of the film.
Vagabond is a study of this woman, Mona, and also of the different thoughts projected on her by different people. To some, she was a piece of meat, to be screwed. To others, she represented freedom. "I wish I were free like her" we hear from a couple of speakers (incidentally, not all of the interviewees know that she is dead; the interview structure is never clearly defined, giving it a ghostly feeling; oh, and also incidentally, the structure of the film is co-opted from Citizen Kane; that's not something that most will notice (the film is too strong on its own to be reduced like that), and it's not something that's at all important, but it's kind of a neat fact). To others, she represents a lost cause. Yet others feel pity towards her. A college professor whom Mona meets gives her a long lift in her car. Later, when this professor has a near-death experience, she violently regrets that she left her alone on the side of the road.
Varda refuses to judge Mona or to idolize her. The film is not very emotionally draining. Neorealism isn't the goal here. If you do want to see a related film more in the melodramatic style of Neorealism (and there's nothing wrong with that, of course), try Erick Zonka's excellent 1997 film The Dreamlife of Angels. But not Vagabond, no. I'm guessing that this film is actually based on a real person. It certainly could be, anyway. Varda's only purpose seems to be the questioning of how this could happen. What kind of person is Mona? How did she end up where she did? Bringing back Citizen Kane, Vagabond's point isn't too different from that all-time great masterpiece. As much as you can possibly learn about Charles Foster Kane or Mona, you can never know enough to understand them.
Vagabond is a study of this woman, Mona, and also of the different thoughts projected on her by different people. To some, she was a piece of meat, to be screwed. To others, she represented freedom. "I wish I were free like her" we hear from a couple of speakers (incidentally, not all of the interviewees know that she is dead; the interview structure is never clearly defined, giving it a ghostly feeling; oh, and also incidentally, the structure of the film is co-opted from Citizen Kane; that's not something that most will notice (the film is too strong on its own to be reduced like that), and it's not something that's at all important, but it's kind of a neat fact). To others, she represents a lost cause. Yet others feel pity towards her. A college professor whom Mona meets gives her a long lift in her car. Later, when this professor has a near-death experience, she violently regrets that she left her alone on the side of the road.
Varda refuses to judge Mona or to idolize her. The film is not very emotionally draining. Neorealism isn't the goal here. If you do want to see a related film more in the melodramatic style of Neorealism (and there's nothing wrong with that, of course), try Erick Zonka's excellent 1997 film The Dreamlife of Angels. But not Vagabond, no. I'm guessing that this film is actually based on a real person. It certainly could be, anyway. Varda's only purpose seems to be the questioning of how this could happen. What kind of person is Mona? How did she end up where she did? Bringing back Citizen Kane, Vagabond's point isn't too different from that all-time great masterpiece. As much as you can possibly learn about Charles Foster Kane or Mona, you can never know enough to understand them.