Poster
Watch

Vagabond

Sans toit ni loi

  • Status: Released
  • 04-12-1985
  • Runtime: 105 min
  • Score: 7.3
  • Vote count: 315

Mona Bergeron is dead, her frozen body found in a ditch in the French countryside. From this, the film flashes back to the weeks leading up to her death. Through these flashbacks, Mona gradually declines as she travels from place to place, taking odd jobs and staying with whomever will offer her a place to sleep. Mona is fiercely independent, craving freedom over comfort, but it is this desire to be free that will eventually lead to her demise.

Sandrine Bonnaire

Mona Bergeron

Macha Méril

Mme Landier

Yolande Moreau

Yolande

Stéphane Freiss

Jean-Pierre

Setti Ramdane

The Moroccan Who Discovers Mona

Yahiaoui Assouna

Assoun

Marthe Jarnias

Old Aunt Lydie

Francis Balchère

Gendarmerie

Jean-Louis Perletti

Gendarmerie

Urbain Causse

Farmer Interviewed

Christophe Alcazar

Ditch Burner

Dominique Durand

First Biker

Joël Fosse

Paulo

Patrick Schmit

Camionneur

Daniel Bos

Wrecker

Katy Champaud

Girl at the Pump

Raymond Roulle

Old Man with Matches

Agnès Varda

(uncredited)

Laurence Cortadellas

Eliane

Henri Fridiani

The Gravedigger

Patrick Sokol

The Young Man with the Sandwich

Pierre Imbert

The Mechanic

Richard Imbert

The Mechanic's Son

Gabriel Mariani

Yolande's uncle (Aimé B.I.O.N.N.E.T.)

Patrick Lepczynski

David, the Wandering Jew

Michèle Doumèche

The p... on the route

Pierette Soler

The Lady Talking to Her Husband

Pierre Emonnot

The Unhappy Manager

Emmanuel Protopopoff

The Blood Donor Backpacker

Vincent Sanchez

The Nurse

Garibaldi Fernandez

The Mason with the Round Hat

Michel Constantial

The Cash Register Manager

Alain Roussel

The Violent Woodsman

Aimé Chisci

The Farm Manager

Geneviève Bonfils

The Farm Manager's Wife

Christian Chessa

The ZONARD-MAC at the Gas Station

Setina Arhab

The Zonarde

Jacques Berthier

The Well-Dressed Little Gentleman

Olivier Jongerlinck

The Racketeer at the Photo Booth

Rémi Leboucq

The Racketeer's Client

Jean Dambrin

The Trichlomane

Bébert Samcir

The Harmonica Player

CinemaSerf

Sandrine Bonnaire delivers really quite well in this observational drama of a young, rootless, girl who roams the countryside living from hand to mouth. Now we start with "Mona" dead in a ditch - so there's little jeopardy, but that also serves a useful frame of reference to this depiction of her last fortnight or so of life. It's presented episodically as she encounters a goat-herder, squats with a pot-smoker for a few days, falls in love with an handsome Tunisian grape-picker and my own favourite - manages to get quite well oiled with a curmudgeonly old lady who simply needed to let her hair down. Each day brings her something new and the flashback style of storytelling allows us to reset a little between her adventures. Each time she, and we, feel maybe there is sense that hope isn't far away as she plays a game of Russian Roulette with her daily life. Some people are sympathetic, some downright hostile and it's all of these characteristics that contribute well to this punchy portrait of a strong woman who has no idea what she wants, nor what she doesn't want either. Does she clamour for peace, quiet, security? Does she thrive better on the unpredicable? One of my favourite Varda films - it's freedom and openness of visuals and spirit is compellingly augmented by Bonnaire and a cast of engaging character actors some you might like and some you probably won't. To what extent this is an accurate representation of rural life and small village mentality is also a question we are left to assess for ourselves and it all makes for a drama that works on several levels.