Vagabond (French: Sans toit ni loi, "with neither shelter nor law") is a 1985 French drama film directed by Agnès Varda, featuring Sandrine Bonnaire. It tells the story of a young woman, a vagabond, who wanders through the Languedoc-Roussillon wine country one winter. The film premiered at the 42nd Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Lion. Vagabond was nominated for four César Awards, with Bonnaire winning Best Actress. The film was the 36th highest-grossing film of the year with a total of 1,080,143 admissions in France.[2]
| Vagabond | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Agnès Varda |
| Written by | Agnès Varda |
| Produced by | Oury Milshtein |
| Starring | Sandrine Bonnaire Macha Méril Yolande Moreau |
| Cinematography | Patrick Blossier |
| Edited by | Patricia Mazuy Agnès Varda |
| Music by | Joanna Bruzdowicz Fred Chichin |
| Distributed by | MK2 Diffusion |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Box office | $8.1 million[1] |
Plot
editThe film begins with the contorted body of a young woman lying in a ditch, covered in frost. From this image, an unseen interviewer (Varda) puts the camera on the last men to see her and the one who found her. The action then flashes back to the woman, Mona, walking along the roadside, hiding from the police and trying to get a ride. Along her journey she takes up with other vagabonds as well as a Tunisian vineyard worker, a family of goat farmers, an agronomy professor, and a maid who envies what she perceives to be Mona's beautiful and passionate lifestyle. Mona explains to one of her temporary companions that at one time she was a secretary in Paris but became unsettled with the way she was living, choosing instead to wander the country, free from any responsibility. Her condition worsens until she finally falls where we first encounter her—in a ditch, frozen to death.
Cast
edit- Sandrine Bonnaire as Mona Bergeron
- Macha Méril as Mme Landier
- Yolande Moreau as Yolande
- Stéphane Freiss as Jean-Pierre
- Setti Ramdane as Assoun
- Francis Balchère as Police
- Jean-Louis Perletti as Police
- Urbain Causse as Farmer
- Christophe Alcazar as Farmer
- Joël Fosse as Paulo
- Patrick Schmit as Truck Driver
- Daniel Bos as Demolition Worker
- Katy Champaud as Girl at the Pump
- Raymond Roulle as Old Man with Matches
- Henri Fridlani as The Gravedigger
- Patrick Sokol as Young Man with Sandwich
- Pierre Imbert as Mechanic
Critical reception
editThe film was acclaimed by critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 100% of 23 critics gave the film a positive review, for an average rating of 8.8/10.[3]
Style
editVagabond combines straightforward narrative scenes, in which we see Mona living her life, with pseudo-documentary sequences in which people who knew Mona turn to the camera and say what they remember about her. Significant events are sometimes left unshown, so that the viewer must piece information together to gain a full picture.
It was filmed in the departments of Gard, Hérault and Bouches-du-Rhône.[4]
The title
editThe original French title, Sans toit ni loi (With neither Shelter nor Law), is a play on a common French idiom, "sans foi ni loi", meaning "with neither faith nor law". It also puns on sans toi ("without you").
Awards and nominations
edit| Award | Category | Name | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| César Awards | Best Film | Agnès Varda | Nominated |
| Best Director | Agnès Varda | Nominated | |
| Best Actress | Sandrine Bonnaire | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Macha Méril | Nominated | |
| French Syndicate of Cinema Critics | Best Film | Agnès Varda | Won |
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards | Best Foreign Film | Agnès Varda | Won |
| Best Actress | Sandrine Bonnaire | Won | |
| National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Actress | Sandrine Bonnaire | Nominated |
| New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | Agnès Varda | Nominated |
| Sant Jordi Awards | Best Foreign Actress | Sandrine Bonnaire | Won |
| Venice Film Festival | Golden Lion | Agnès Varda | Won |
| Volpi Cup for Best Actress | Sandrine Bonnaire | —[a] | |
| FIPRESCI Prize | Agnès Varda | Won | |
| OCIC Award | Agnès Varda | Won |
Notes
edit- ^ This award was not assigned. The jury deemed the best performances to be Sandrine Bonnaire (Sans toit ni loi) and Jane Birkin (Dust), but decided against awarding the prize as both films won major awards. They also gave a special mention to three other actresses for their performances.[5]
References
edit- ^ JP. "Sans toît ni loi (1985)- JPBox-Office". www.jpbox-office.com.
- ^ JP. "Sans toît ni loi (1985)- JPBox-Office". www.jpbox-office.com.
- ^ "Sans Toit ni Loi (Vagabond) (Without Roof or Rule)". www.rottentomatoes.com.
- ^ "Vagabond (1985) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
- ^ Dionne Jr., E. J. (7 September 1985). "Venice Festival Awards Top Prize to Varda Film". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
External links
edit- Vagabond at IMDb
- Vagabond at AllMovie
- Vagabond at the TCM Movie Database
- Vagabond at Rotten Tomatoes
- Vagabond an essay by Sandy Flitterman-Lewis at the Criterion Collection