Review of Vagabond (1992) by Chad W — 29 Aug 2012

I find it difficult to write about "Vagabond." The title character Mona is cinematically brought back to life from a gruesome scene of her dead frozen body lying in a ditch by jumping back two weeks in time. But Mona isn't really a person you get to know. In the two elliptical weeks we know her for, we aren't given any real concrete answers as to why she is alone, homeless, or why she prefers things this way. As people meet her they ask similar questions, to which she just indifferently replies with affirmations of their expectations, "'sure', that's what you want to hear, right?" Her character is so indifferent to the inquiries made by others that, as an audience, we can't help but feel her indifference is also directed toward us.

So what's it about then? What makes "Vagabond" worth while? Well, this is why I find writing about "Vagabond" difficult. Agnes Varda didn't give me much to grasp onto in her film regardless of my efforts. I feel that if I was filmed while viewing "Vagabond," an outside viewer would have a more firm grasp on who I am as person than I ever did about Mona. Yet, Mona really leaves an impression that I still want to place. Perhaps this sense of confusion is what "Vagabond" is ultimately about? The film is a murder mystery after all. Sure, we know right from the start how Mona died, we know it wasn't murder committed by anyone specific and we know the lifestyle, which lead to her end, was her choice. But this doesn't stop us from asking why she died. What gave her the drive to stick to this hard lifestyle avoiding offers of a stable, safe, life? Varda never gives an answer but she did give me something....

The final moments of Vagabond are exactly what you would expect. We see Mona, her movements are slow and stiff, she's wrapped in a small blanket, I swear I can hear her teeth clatter while she shuffles her feet across the hard ground of the frozen vineyard. Mona falls, her limbs are so frozen that she can't even lift herself. There isn't a hint of regret or fear on her face, she has no words of wisdom, she's far from a vague utterance of "rosebud." Mona dies just like she lived, in the moment. I can't think of another death in film that has effected me so, I want so badly to pull Mona out of that ditch, yes, I know how stupid that sounds. Then I realize every person Mona comes across attempts to pull her out of that ditch, but unlike her halfhearted answers to personal inquiries, and human relationships, that ditch is the only truth we will ever know of Mona.