Vagabond
In winter in the south of France, a young woman is found frozen in a ditch. She's unkempt, a vagabond. Through flashbacks and brief interviews, we trace her final weeks as she camps alone or falls in with various men and women, many of whom project their needs onto her or try to give her life direction. She squats in an old house smoking hash with a man, falls for a Tunisian laborer and works beside him pruning grape vines, stays with a couple shepherding goats, meets an agronomist trying to save plane trees, gets tipsy with an old woman, and has an offer to appear in porn films.
The film earned $8.1M at the global box office.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Vagabond (1985) demonstrates deliberately positioned narrative architecture, characteristic of Agnès Varda's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 45 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.0, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 2 minutes (2% through the runtime) establishes Mona's frozen corpse is discovered in a ditch. This inverted status quo establishes the end point, creating dramatic irony for the entire narrative that follows.. Significantly, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 12 minutes when Mona is evicted from an abandoned building where she had been squatting. Winter is coming, and her ability to survive on the margins becomes increasingly precarious.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 26 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This indicates the protagonist's commitment to Mona actively chooses to leave the goat farm where she could have stayed and learned a trade. She rejects stability and deliberately commits to her vagabond existence despite approaching winter., moving from reaction to action.
At 51 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 49% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Of particular interest, this crucial beat Mona is separated from Assoun when he is deported. This false defeat marks the loss of her one equal relationship and the beginning of her accelerating decline., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 77 minutes (74% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Mona is brutally beaten and doused with wine by drunken vineyard workers during a festival. Stripped of dignity and covered in filth, she has reached her lowest point—a literal and metaphorical death of self., shows the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 83 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 79% of the runtime. Mona receives no revelation or synthesis. Instead, this threshold is her final, exhausted collapse—she can walk no further. The film subverts the traditional breakthrough moment with brutal realism., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Vagabond's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs a 15-point narrative structure framework that maps key story moments. By mapping Vagabond against these established plot points, we can identify how Agnès Varda utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Vagabond within the drama genre.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Mona's frozen corpse is discovered in a ditch. This inverted status quo establishes the end point, creating dramatic irony for the entire narrative that follows.
Theme
A witness states: "She left her mark on me." The film explores freedom, autonomy, and how a person impacts others even in their rejection of society.
Worldbuilding
Through testimonials and flashbacks, we see Mona as a vagabond in Southern France. She hitchhikes, camps, refuses work, and maintains fierce independence. We learn she quit her job as a secretary to live on the road.
Disruption
Mona is evicted from an abandoned building where she had been squatting. Winter is coming, and her ability to survive on the margins becomes increasingly precarious.
Resistance
Mona encounters various people who offer help or companionship: a Tunisian vineyard worker, a philosophy professor, a goat-herding couple. Each represents a different life choice, but Mona resists their guidance and refuses to compromise her freedom.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Mona actively chooses to leave the goat farm where she could have stayed and learned a trade. She rejects stability and deliberately commits to her vagabond existence despite approaching winter.
Mirror World
Mona meets Assoun, a Tunisian worker, who treats her as an equal and shares his own marginalized existence. Their brief relationship represents the possibility of connection without domestication.
Premise
Mona wanders through the French countryside, the film delivering on its premise: an unflinching portrait of radical freedom. She bathes in fountains, sleeps in fields, accepts and rejects help as she pleases, embodying absolute autonomy.
Midpoint
Mona is separated from Assoun when he is deported. This false defeat marks the loss of her one equal relationship and the beginning of her accelerating decline.
Opposition
Winter intensifies. Mona faces increasing hostility: she's mocked by locals, assaulted by shepherds, rejected by former acquaintances. Her hygiene deteriorates, opportunities disappear, and society closes ranks against her.
Collapse
Mona is brutally beaten and doused with wine by drunken vineyard workers during a festival. Stripped of dignity and covered in filth, she has reached her lowest point—a literal and metaphorical death of self.
Crisis
Mona wanders in a daze through the winter landscape, completely alone and broken. She makes no attempt to seek help or change course, resigned to her fate.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Mona receives no revelation or synthesis. Instead, this threshold is her final, exhausted collapse—she can walk no further. The film subverts the traditional breakthrough moment with brutal realism.
Synthesis
Mona stumbles through her final hours, seeking shelter in a greenhouse where she ultimately dies of exposure. The narrative returns to the opening discovery, completing the circle.
Transformation
Return to Mona's body being loaded into a truck. The transformation is complete: from living person to nameless corpse. Her absolute freedom led to absolute isolation and death—the film's tragic answer to its central question.