Sans toit ni loi (1985)

Sans toit ni loi is a French film first released in 1985, directed by Agnès Varda.  The film stars Sandrine Bonnaire, Setti Ramdane, Francis Balchère and Jean-Louis Perletti.  It has also been released under the title: Vagabond.  Our overall rating for this film is: very good.


On a cold winter’s morning, a farm labourer discovers the dead body of a young woman in a ditch.  Her clothes are filthy and torn, her hair unkempt, and her face pale and exhausted.  The strange woman appears to have been living rough for some time.  Those who encountered her in the weeks preceding her death attempt to piece together her story, to try to work out who she was and where she was heading.

One of Agnès Varda’s most critically acclaimed films, Sans toit ni loi tells the moving story of a young woman who rejects society and civilisation so that she can pursue her dream of living entirely freely in the countryside she loves.  It is a brutally harsh and unsentimental film, depressingly pessimistic in that it shows such freedom can never be attained, no matter how determined the individual may be.  The danger of starvation, physical attack and illness rapidly quench the illusion of freedom which living rough may appear to offer.

The film is closer to a documentary than a traditional film drama, an approach which lends a shocking realism to the piece whilst distancing the spectator from the central character, the vagabond Mona, who remains elusive and enigmatic throughout.  Mona is played by Sandrine Bonnaire in what is a remarkable and moving performance, for which the actress was justly rewarded with a Best Actress César.  The film itself won the prestigious Golden Lion award at Venice in 1985.

© James Travers 2001

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