Vagabond

Sandrine Bonnaire won the César Award for Best Actress (the French equivalent of the Oscars) for her searing portrayal of the defiant drifter Mona, found frozen to death in a ditch at the beginning of Vagabond. Varda pieces together Mona’s story through flashbacks told by those who encountered her (played by a largely nonprofessional cast), producing a splintered portrait of an enigmatic woman. One of the must-see films of the 1980s. In French with English subtitles. (105 mins., 35mm)See the complete Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair lineup.IMAGE CAPTIONVagabond, courtesy of Janus Films.