'Vagabond'

Vagabond was written and directed by Agnès Varda, known around these parts for previously reviewed films Cleo from 5 to 7 and The Gleaners and I.

If I can make a quick observation, I had no idea that this film was made by Varda and if you'd forced me to guess, I would assume it was a man.

This assumption based almost solely on the first scene in which Mona -- who we would learn is the main protagonist -- is found dead in a muddy ditch, her body twisted, her face and body frozen and looking like a corpse who died a second death. A vagabond, to draw in the film's English title.

There was something raw and unforgiving about the way Mona is laid out there and the rather callous nature of the onset of the investigation of her death, whether it was accident or homicide. I just assumed that only a man could treat a woman like this whilst a female filmmaker would provide a more feminine avenue for Mona's death. I think back to Cleo from 5 to 7, how neat, clean and sophisticated the vagabond (Cleo) was in that film made, granted, 20 years earlier.

Knowing Varda made the film now, I think stylistically it has a lot of similarities to her 2002 documentary, The Gleaners and I. Both set in the wind-swept and grey French countryside, the area that looks inhospitable and dank. Perfect settings for both films.