Vagabonde

Varda's lyrical requiem to Mona, a teenage tramp discovered dead from exposure, shows (in flashback) her last few months and her effect on people she met briefly and variously: a smart middle class professor (Méril) mesmerised and repelled by the fierce young woman, peasant drudges in whom she inspires romantic dreams of freedom, a dour ageing soixante-huitard, now the most conventional of them all. Varda boldly explains nothing about Mona, who simply holds up an unflattering mirror to others' follies, prejudices, and fears. Spare, poetic images of the mid-winter Midi are offset by the warmth and vigour of the well-chosen, largely non-professional cast, with a formidable central performance from Sandrine Bonnaire.