Vagabond

One day you will die, that’s the only thing we can be certain of when it comes to the future but one thing that always strikes me about Vagabond is that Varda chooses to skip death altogether, we see Mona before and post death but not the act itself because while the only thing awaiting Mona is death her life turns out to be surrounded by everything but it. Pleasure, pain, people and monsters, they all make life, they make this mysterious process of regret and connection that while fleeting can be so profound. While some may find Varda’s as always curious and imaginative framing not as grounded for me it really works here, as if it’s part of Mona’s or the narrative’s way of softening the blow of her reality and the harshness of it. It might just be because I’ve seen it recently but this reminds me quite a bit of Easy Rider but geared towards of course the female perspective and experience especially within this rough context, she too lives outside the norm and establishment but it also makes her more vulnerable as a woman yet there is something to Mona’s self independence that instantly makes it hard to forget her, like the rest of the film it’s this force that feels so real because it’s endearing yet it’s also her biggest downfall but Varda in her painting of this character sticks with humanity more then anything. Mona doesn’t stand for anything other than being a person striving to live her truth, that’s something I especially resonate with returning to this film. I think there’s a lot of complexities here just skimming under the simple premise, how through following Mona’s encounters and structuring the film around that we not only learn so much about her but the people she meets and what it might say for us as a society and how we choose to interact with people like Mona, if there’s any message here it’s that empathy can really go so far, it’s painful to have empathy because sometimes it doesn’t help but it’s all the better for it, because to remember is better then to forget and Mona for all her faults is worth remembering even if just for her trials then for what she ends up doing and there is something reassuring in that, Vagabond celebrates and mourns the surprisingly repetitive process of life rather then the success of it, meaning is found in trying whether it means trying to settle down or to keep on the road but either way as the old saying goes its about the journey then ending up somewhere in particular.