Just a note about Vagabond before KOL chimes in.
Smirnoff, I think you caught the spirit of the film, which is quite unlike a Varda film. Varda is normally unusually generous with her filmmaking, pursuing stories that enliven us, awaken our joy. Here, her subject is so lacking in joy that she drains the audience, confuses us, makes us wonder how we should react. This is in stark contrast with other Varda films and my personal opinion is that it should be watched in the context of their other films. For me, while the protagonist is lacking that generosity, I still sense the compassion and generosity behind the camera. This isn’t about a person who deserves help, but Varda wants us to experience the life of someone that we would easily ignore, would easily dismiss. Varda helps us see the humanity of this character, whom we might never give a second thought.
From my own experience, the protagonist doesn’t represent the majority of people on the street, but there is a certain segment. She isn’t a sociopath, in my experience, but a person who has so rarely received compassion or true assistance that she trusts no one, even those who seem imminently trustworthy. People on the street for a year or more receive kind offers every day, but rarely are they followed through on. This builds a wall between them and people who could help them, because they don’t trust. When you don’t trust, you become completely self reliant, you take what you can when you can, but you don’t wait around for someone to prove their untrustworthiness. There is always a wall, always a barrier. Eventually, you tell yourself that this is how you want to be. LIfe is brutal and you need to be brutal and unemotional to meet it. I believe the Vagabond believed that this is how her life needs to go,. We say that she is making her own choices. She would say that she has no choice. That it is just how life is.