VAGABOND/SANS TOIT NI LOI (1986, France, 105 min.), directed by Agnes Varda; screenplay by Varda; with Sandrine Bonnaire (Mona Bergeron), Macha Meril (Mme. Landier), Yolande Moreau (Yolande, the servant), Marthe Jarnias (Aunt Lydia), Stephane Freiss (Jean-Pierre, the nephew); dedicated to Nathalie Sarraute.

1. The film begins with the discovery of the frozen corpse of the protagonist, Mona, then moves back in time a week or so to trace her final days. Why does it use this flashback technique? Why not use normal chronology?

2. Varda has said that she is in a sense less interested in Mona than in the effect that Mona's passing through the area has had on other people. What does she represent for them? Consider the whole range of their reactions.

3. Discuss Mona's character. Does she develop as a character, or does she remain pretty much the same throughout? Why do you suppose she lives the vagrant life that she does? What are her strengths? Her weaknesses?

4. Sandrine Bonnaire won a Cesar (the French Oscar) for her role as Mona. Do you think she deserved it? Does she manage to bring life to this role of a girl seemingly without feelings? If so, how?

5. The film is as much an exploration of this particular setting in the south of France as it is of Mona. We usually think of the south of France as being a lovely tourist destination. It’s different here, no? How does the film work to capture this sense of place? Discuss the elements that create atmosphere in the film.

6. Varda began her professional career as a photographer and has always had a wonderful eye for visual detail and texture. With that in mind, discuss the film's cinematography. Which scenes seem particularly memorable in that respect?

7. How does music work, both diegetically (i.e., source sound, part of the story) and discursively (added to the soundtrack), to aid in the establishment of the tone of the film? Discuss the different kinds of music.

8. Interspersed within the regular story line, various characters face the camera and express, in documentary form, what they thought of Mona. Do they tend to say what you would have expected them to say about her? What do you think of this storytelling technique?

9. As she wanders through this little region, hitchhiking, camping, smoking dope, screwing, sometimes eating, sometimes working, rarely bathing, Mona finds herself brushing against the lives of various groups of people: Mme. Landier (the professor), Aunt Lydia and Yolande, Jean-Pierre and his wife, the shepherds, the Tunisian, the Wandering Jew, and others. In this sense, the film is close to the traditional literary genre of the "picaresque," the journeying young hero or heroine whose travels put him/her in contact with various social groups. The various stories are tied together by the wandering hero/heroine. Which of the "stories" in Vagabond did you find most interesting, and why?

10. The shepherd has some somewhat harsh words to say about Mona. What is his complaint about her, and do you find yourself agreeing with him? Notice Varda's attitude in the the interview.

11. What is it in the end that causes Mona's downfall? Why does she allow herself to die?

12. Varda intended Mona to be a complete enigma throughout the film. Do you find her that way. Why do you suppose Mona came to be the way she is? What is her "problem"?

13. Mona is "sans toit ni loi" ("roofless and lawless"). She is asocial; without really being conscious of it, she is a walking critique of society. Is the film itself socially conscious--does it have anything critical to say about society?

14. Based on what you’ve read about Varda, in what ways is Vagabond a “Varda Film”?

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