269. Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi); movie review

VAGABOND (SANS TOIT NI LOI)
Cert 15
101 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong language, drugs misuse, sexual threat

How apt that on our tour of west coast Canada and United States we should break off to watch Agnes Varda's Vagabond.
Our trip from Vancouver to San Francisco was to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and was one of the great adventures of our life.
But, while we concentrated on the sights, entertainment, food and drink, we could not avoid sadness over what seemed to be extreme levels of homelessness in the big cities.
This struck a particular chord with me because I am on the board of YMCA Derbyshire which helps young people who would otherwise be on the streets.
I have learned to avoid being judgmental when it comes to those who sleep rough and it has become clear to me that most would not voluntarily do so.
However, as Vagabond tries to demonstrate, some find themselves lost and unable to find their way back on track.
During the opening scenes of Varda's 1985 movie, which has just been re-released, a homeless young woman's body is found in a ditch.
The discovery is followed by speculation on how she died and then the film pans back to her last months and days.
Sandrine Bonnaire plays the former secretary who began drifting after walking away from a job which did not fulfil her.
Now she is seen hitchhiking across the countryside in winter, cadging food and drink and places to sleep.
What struck Mrs W and I was her bad manners. She seems to think she has an entitlement to what she is given without any sign that she wants to either pay or work for it.
This irked me because it embellishes a media representation of the homeless as being demanding and undeserving.
In most cases, people are not homeless by design - circumstances have dictated that they are sleeping rough. Neither are they rude.
However, Bonnaire gives a compelling performance as a young woman whose sense of on-the-road freedom is gradually eroded by the harshness of reality.
The latter is a cold, friendless world where the next piece of bread is the height of ambition.
Surely, nobody should want that and civilised society should stop it becoming the norm for many tens of thousands of people.

Reasons to watch: A memorable portrayal of homelessness
Reasons to avoid: It goes over the same ground repeatedly

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8/10

Director quote - Agnes Varda: "Feelings are the ground on which people can be led to think about things. I try to show everything that happens in such a way and ask questions so as to leave the viewers free to make their own judgments."

The big question - Will homelessness ever belong to the past?

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