Cleo From 5 to 7 (Cleo de cinq a sept), per its title, concentrates on two hours in the life of a woman. Those hours are desperate ones, in that Cleo, a pop singer, awaits the results of her tests for cancer. Director Agnes Varda stages the film in "real" rather than subjective time, its various episodes divided into chapters, using significant Tarot cards. During the allotted time, Cleo visits her friends, tries to sing her worries away, spends money, and cries. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
liked it.
Writer/director Agnes Varda's
Cléo de 5 à 7 is one of the more unassuming works in the French New Wave -- it has neither the historical gravity of, say,
Alain Resnais's
Hiroshima Mon Amour nor the shock value of
Jean-Luc Godard's
À Bout de Souffle -- but in its own quiet way, it offers offers a meticulous record of one woman's capacity to observe, dream, and feel. In near real-time, we follow pop singer Cléo (Corrine Marchand) as she waits for her doctor's verdict on a cancer test; though the subject matter is heart-rending, Varda's athletic direction prevents the film from becoming a cloying weepie. In true New Wave fashion, she incorporates any technique that suits her needs: a meandering soundtrack that picks up ancillary characters' conversations; subjective point-of-view shots; titles that separate the film into "chapters"; and documentary-style snatches of street life. Instead of cluttering the film, Varda's flourishes have a breezy, existential quality that underscores Cléo's impending news without trivializing her predicament. Marchand aids the director immensely; her intuitive performance suggests a brainier
Marilyn Monroe afflicted with spiritual malaise. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide