Vagabondes

Within the framework of the Austin Film Festival we were able to discover the new film co-written and directed by Philippe Dajoux Vagabondes (Les collègues (1999), La grande vie ! (2001)), Deux au crarré (2016)). By abandoning the register of popular comedy, Philippe Dajoux gives us here quite simply his best film to date and succeeds in giving life to characters with numerous and endearing cracks.

In Vagabondes, we discover four people on the margins of society who will meet and help each other. These people, who seem to have no future, will discover the meaning of hope and above all find the desire to change their daily life. For Jo and Faustine, two worlds clash: misery and opulence, illiteracy and culture. One is a young woman living in her broken-down car, while the other, a budding writer, has fled her family and her comfortable consumer life. Jo is a waste of explosive emotions with a heavy past, and Faustine could be about to write her story. Soha and Anastasia are two isolated young vagabonds, damaged by drugs and the street. They bump into each other and become inseparable. Together, they bring their past to a better present.

The great strength of independent cinema, be it French, Canadian or American, is that it is able to deal freely with current affairs without having to endure the diktats of studios that see films as mere marketing products ready to conquer market share by relying more on prestigious castings than on ambitious and mastered scripts. Admittedly, it still happens to find great French films that manage to find ways to satisfy the studios from which they emanate and their directors to let their inspirations run free.

Films such as Adieu les cons by Abert Dupontel, Bac Nord by Cédric Jimenez or Comment je suis devenu Super-Héros by Douglas Attal show that French cinema is capable of rivaling those of the big American studios and of meeting a very large audience, as they are steeped in the same love for cinema as Vagabondes by Philippe Dajoux. Admittedly, the financial means are not the same here, but the main actors deliver remarkable interpretations and bring their contributions to show the many shortcomings of our current society.

This film also portrays a landscape of France that is more realistic and less idyllic than those of many others and this adds an undeniable value to the film. By staying in the concrete, avoiding a tearful happy ending and above all by making viewers think, Vagabondes stands out as one of our big favorites of the Austin Film Festival. We hope that its director Philippe Dajoux will continue on this path for his next films and above all that Vagabondes will be distributed in France whether it is in cinema or video release.

Vagabondes
Directed by Philippe Dajoux
Produced by Emmanuel Montamat, Philippe Dajoux
Written by Philippe Dajoux and Rebecca Bitan
Starring Sergi Lopez, Slimane Dazi, Sacha Bourdo, Pauline Bression, Bryan Tresor, Marysol Fertard, Aurelie Reinhorn, Andrea Ferreol, Michael Jonasz, Jo Prestia, Vincent Garanger, Francois Vincentelli
Music : Levon Minasian, Faf La Rage, Sébastien Damiani, Manu Katché, Jean-Yves D'Angelo
Cinematography : Bruno Rossanvallon
Edited by Sébastien Pourcel
Production companies : Lily and Lola Studios
Running time : 108 minutes

Viewed October 25, 2020 (online access Austin Film Festival)

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