Born in 1928, Agnes Varda ("Cleo from 5 to 7"), the only female director prominent during the Nouvelle Vague and arguably the most iconic woman behind the cameras alive, brought us in 1985 a remarkable character study/road movie, "Vagabond" (or, in the original French title, "Sans Toit Ni Loi", or "Without Roof or Laws"). 18 year-old Sandrine Bonnaire plays Mona Bergeron, who's found frozen to death in a ditch at the beginning of the movie. Through a series of flashbacks and interviews with people who met Mona, we're shown how just her sheer presence, words and actions, as nihilistic as they seemed, touched, one way or another, all of those who came into contact with her.
The sequence with the philosopher/farmer, his wife, their child and Mona could be my favourite. Their conversation define both the similarities and dissidence between their perceptions. They're very different people, but equally fascinating in their own ways/ideas of what's right and good. Mona is the title and theme of the film, "without roof or laws", when every other character falls under the restrictions of roof/laws (Lydie's greedy nephew and his wife), or about one roof and their philosophy (the farmer and his wife), while Mona is the only one without either - as the philosopher tells her, "You chose total freedom and you got total loneliness". That's Mona's cross and the theme of the film, in my opinion - while her response "Champagne on the road's better!" to the question "Why did you drop out?" represents her attitude towards her own life. Whether champagne's better on the road or not is for you to decide, but one thing is for sure: this film makes you think, about others' and your own attitude towards social issues and the meaning of living in the society you're a part of. And, above all, about the free will to change your reality or conform to it. 10/10.
The sequence with the philosopher/farmer, his wife, their child and Mona could be my favourite. Their conversation define both the similarities and dissidence between their perceptions. They're very different people, but equally fascinating in their own ways/ideas of what's right and good. Mona is the title and theme of the film, "without roof or laws", when every other character falls under the restrictions of roof/laws (Lydie's greedy nephew and his wife), or about one roof and their philosophy (the farmer and his wife), while Mona is the only one without either - as the philosopher tells her, "You chose total freedom and you got total loneliness". That's Mona's cross and the theme of the film, in my opinion - while her response "Champagne on the road's better!" to the question "Why did you drop out?" represents her attitude towards her own life. Whether champagne's better on the road or not is for you to decide, but one thing is for sure: this film makes you think, about others' and your own attitude towards social issues and the meaning of living in the society you're a part of. And, above all, about the free will to change your reality or conform to it. 10/10.