Anchored by Sandrine Bonnaire’s remarkable performance as a woman whose refusal to be known or understood pushes her into a total detachment from society, Vagabond was Varda’s biggest success since Cléo, and, like Cléo, once again focuses on a single female protagonist and her interactions with her environment. Structured in part like a documentary, the film opens on the body of Mona, frozen to death in a ditch on the side of the road. Interspersed with flashbacks of Mona’s life as a drifter are reminiscences by the people she met on the road. In spite of Varda’s attention, Mona ultimately remains unknowable, even to herself. She is a cipher, misunderstood by those she has encountered even as they recall their impressions and interactions with her for the camera. Ultimately, Vagabond investigates not Mona, but the traces and reflections she has left in others. – HG