여성 유랑자 서사의 이중성과 영화적 윤리: 아녜스 바르다의 <방랑자>(1985)와 클로이 자오의 <노매드랜드>(2020)를 중심으로

초록

This paper comparatively analyzes Agnès Varda’s Vagabond(Sans Toit Ni Loi, 1985) and Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland(2020) to examine how the same theme of the “female drifter” (or wandering woman) both reveals liberation and vulnerability when combined with the hybrid form of docu-fiction, and what kind of cinematic ethics emerge in the process. Both films feature a female protagonist traveling without any fixed home base, offering a perspective distinct from traditional male-focused road movies, while employing directing techniques that blur the line between documentary and fiction, thereby prompting audiences to question “Is this real or fictional?” Despite these similarities,Vagabond culminates in extreme isolation and abandonment leading to the protagonist’s death, whereas Nomadland highlights communal solidarity and dignity, resulting in fundamentally contrasting endings. Such differences stem from each director’s ethical stance (i.e., distancing vs. empathy) and the sociocultural contexts of 1980s France versus 2020s America. In Vagabond, Agnès Varda blocks audience empathy and starkly exposes the violence faced by a female drifter, while in Nomadland, Chloé Zhao combines real-life nomads with a fictional character to emphasize warm empathy and healing. Furthermore, whereas Vagabond is set against the backdrop of rural poverty in France, where almost no structural support exists, Nomadland depicts a contemporary American reality in which nomad communities continue to flourish even after the financial crisis, suggesting that a “life without permanent settlement” can sustain new forms of solidarity. This study demonstrates that female drifter narratives are not merely romantic rebellions or tragic victim stories, but instead gain broader significance within docu-fiction depending on the director’s ethical outlook and degree of emotional engagement with the subject. Future research on drifter narratives in the digital nomad era or in different cultural and genre contexts will shed more light on how the “female nomad,” poised between freedom and vulnerability, can be further developed and reinterpreted.

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