''Cléo from 5 to 7'' () is a 1962
French New Wave
The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French European art cinema, art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentat ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
written and directed by
Agnès Varda
Agnès Varda (; born Arlette Varda; 30 May 1928 – 29 March 2019) was a Belgian-born French film director, screenwriter and photographer.
Varda's work employed location shooting in an era when the limitations of sound technology made it easier ...
.
It follows Florence (
Corinne Marchand), a young singer known professionally as "Cléo Victoire", from 5 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. on
June 21
Events Pre-1600
* 533 – A Byzantine expeditionary fleet under Belisarios sails from Constantinople to attack the Vandals in Africa, via Greece and Sicily.
* 1307 – Külüg Khan is enthroned as Khagan of the Mongols and Wuzong o ...
, as she waits to hear the results of a
biopsy
A biopsy is a medical test commonly performed by a surgeon, interventional radiologist, an interventional radiologist, or an interventional cardiology, interventional cardiologist. The process involves the extraction of sampling (medicine), sample ...
that will possibly confirm a diagnosis of
stomach cancer
Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...
. The supporting cast includes
Antoine Bourseiller,
Dominique Davray, and Dorothée Blank, and composer
Michel Legrand
Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, jazz pianist, and singer. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to ma ...
, who wrote the film's score, plays Bob, a composer and pianist. ''Les fiancés du pont MacDonald'', a
silent short film directed by Varda that Cléo watches at a theater, features a cast composed of several New Wave figures, among them
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...
,
Anna Karina
Anna Karina (born Hanne Karin Blarke Bayer; 23 September 1940 – 14 December 2019) ,
Eddie Constantine
Eddie Constantine (born Israel Constantine; October 29, 1913 – February 25, 1993) was an American singer, actor and entertainer who spent most of his career in France. He became well-known to film audiences for his portrayal of secret agent L ...
,
Sami Frey
Sami Frey (born Sami Frei; 13 October 1937) is a French actor of Algerian and Italian descent. Among the films he starred in are '' En compagnie d'Antonin Artaud'' (1993), in which he portrays French poet and playwright Antonin Artaud, and '' Ba ...
, and
Jean-Claude Brialy
Jean-Claude Brialy (30 March 1933 – 30 May 2007) was a French actor and film director.
Early life
Brialy was born in Aumale (now Sour El-Ghozlane), French Algeria, where his father was stationed with the French Army. Brialy moved to mainland ...
.
The film was entered into the
1962 Cannes Film Festival.
Plot
In Paris, singer Cléopâtre "Cléo" Victoire is at a
tarot card reading
Tarot card reading is a form of cartomancy whereby practitioners use tarot cards to purportedly gain insight into the past, present or future. The process typically begins with formulation of a question, followed by drawing and interpreting cards ...
. The fortune teller says there is illness and change in her future, as well as a meeting with a talkative young man, but insists that the
Death
Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...
card just indicates a profound transformation, and not necessarily literal death. When the woman acts as though she cannot
read palms after looking at Cléo's hand, however, Cléo becomes distraught, taking the reading as confirmation that the results of her
biopsy
A biopsy is a medical test commonly performed by a surgeon, interventional radiologist, an interventional radiologist, or an interventional cardiology, interventional cardiologist. The process involves the extraction of sampling (medicine), sample ...
will come back positive for
stomach cancer
Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...
that evening.
Cléo walks to a café, where her assistant, Angèle, is waiting for her. Angèle fails to calm her down, and she attracts the attention of the owner, who gives her a free coffee after hearing her troubles. The two women go hat shopping, and Cléo buys a black fur hat, despite Angèle telling her that it is unsuitable for summer weather. When Cléo wants to wear the hat out, Angèle reminds her that it is bad luck to wear—or even carry—something new on a Tuesday, so they have the shopkeeper send the hat to Cléo, and get in a taxi. One of Cléo's songs plays on the radio, and Cléo and Angèle talk with the female driver about the dangers of her job and listen to news coverage of the
Algerian War
The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...
.
At Cléo's flat, Angèle gets her a hot water bottle for her stomach. Cléo's lover, a busy older businessman named José, drops by, and, though he talks lovingly to Cléo, he dismisses her fears when she mentions them and only stays a few minutes. Cléo tells Angèle that she is thinking about breaking up with José, and they discuss men.
Bob, a composer and pianist, and Maurice, a lyricist, arrive to rehearse with Cléo. When Angèle mentions that Cléo is ill, the men try to cheer her up by pretending to be doctors, but only half-succeed. Some lighthearted new songs do lift Cléo's spirits for a bit, but a dramatic ballad titled "Sans toi" makes her agitated again. She changes into a black dress, and, saying she wants to be alone, leaves.
Wandering to
Le Dôme Café
Le Dôme Café () or Café du Dôme is a restaurant in Montparnasse, Paris that first opened in . Based on the example established by La Closerie des Lilas (created in 1847) and followed by Café de la Rotonde (created in 1911), Le Select (cre ...
, Cléo plays one of her songs on the jukebox, but no one pays it any attention. She goes to an art studio to visit her old friend Dorothée, who is modelling nude for a class of sculptors. When the class finishes, Cléo goes with Dorothée to pick up a package for her boyfriend Raoul, and they bring it to the cinema where he works as a projectionist. Dorothée is worried to hear about Cléo's health concerns, but, though she is sympathetic, she does not have much productive advice.
Raoul invites Cléo and Dorothée to stay for the short film when Dorothée mentions that Cléo is ill, saying that a laugh is good for any illness. From the projection booth, they watch a brief silent comedy in which a man thinks he sees his fiancée die and get carted off in a hearse, only to realise his sunglasses were making things look black, and the scene repeats in a much lighter tone. Leaving the cinema, Dorothée drops her purse and breaks a hand mirror, which Cléo considers a bad omen.
There is a crowd outside Le Dôme, and Cléo and Dorothée learn a man has been killed there. They get in a taxi, and Dorothée tells Cléo that the broken mirror was for the man, not her. Cléo drops Dorothée off at another modelling job, and, as it is a beautiful day, goes to the nearby
Parc Montsouris. By the waterfall, Antoine, a gentle soldier on the last day of his leave from the Algerian War who is full of facts, approaches Cléo, telling her that it is the
longest day of the year. They bond over their mutual fear of dying, and Antoine encourages Cléo to go to the hospital to get her results in person, rather than call, saying he will accompany her, and she can see him off at the train station afterward. On the way to a bus stop, Cléo tells Antoine that her real name is Florence, which he says he prefers.
Antoine initially is able to distract Cléo with his conversation, but she becomes more pensive as they near the hospital. She is upset when told that her doctor has already left for the day, but calms down as she and Antoine walk in the hospital's garden. They sit on a bench and discuss where they should eat before Antoine's train, when, suddenly, Cléo's doctor drives by and stops. He casually tells Cléo that she will be alright after two months of
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...
, and to come see him in the morning. Antoine says he is sorry he has to leave, as he would like to be with Cléo, and she responds that he ''is'' with her at this moment, and that she thinks her fear is gone and she is happy. Cléo and Antoine walk on in silence, occasionally glancing at each other, and then stop and stare into each other's eyes.
Cast
Producer
Georges de Beauregard appears as the driver of both the hearse and the ambulance in the full version of ''Les fiancés du pont MacDonald'', but the shots in which he appears were among those removed when the silent short was edited for inclusion in ''Cléo from 5 to 7''.
Critical reception
On the
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, 93% of 54 critics' reviews of the film are positive, with an average rating of 8.7/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "''Cléo from 5 to 7'' represents a beautifully filmed highlight of the French New Wave that encapsulates the appeal of the era while departing from its narrative conventions."
The film first appeared on ''
Sight & Sound
''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...
'' magazine's Critics' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time in 2002, appearing in 289th place. It rose to number 207 in the
2012 Critics' Poll, and reached number 14 in the
2022 Critics' Poll, making it the third-highest ranking film directed by a woman on the list (after
Claire Denis
Claire Denis (; ; born 21 April 1946) is a French film director and screenwriter. Her feature film '' Beau Travail'' (1999) has been called one of the greatest films of the 1990s and of all time. Her work has dealt with themes of colonial and p ...
' ''
Beau Travail
''Beau Travail'' (, French for "good work") is a 1999 French film directed by Claire Denis, who co-wrote the screenplay alongside Jean-Pol Fargeau, an adaptation of the novella ''Billy Budd'' by Herman Melville. The story is set in Djibouti, wh ...
'' at number 7 and
Chantal Akerman
Chantal Anne Akerman (; 6 June 19505 October 2015) was a Belgian film director, screenwriter, artist, and film professor at the City College of New York.
Akerman is best known for her films (1974), (1975), and '' News from Home'' (1976). The ...
's ''
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' at number 1).
In 2019, ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' was voted the second-greatest film directed by a woman (behind only
Jane Campion
Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion (born 30 April 1954) is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films ''The Piano'' (1993) and ''The Power of the Dog (film), The Power of the Dog'' (2021), for ...
's ''
The Piano
''The Piano'' is a 1993 historical romance film written and directed by New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion. It stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin (in her first major acting role). The film focuses on a mute Sc ...
'') in a BBC poll of 368 film experts from 84 countries.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
''Cléo from 5 to 7'' at AllMovie*
''Cléo from 5 to 7''an essay by
Molly Haskell
Molly Clark Haskell (born September 29, 1939)Aitken, Ian, ed. (2006)''Encyclopedia of Documentary Film, Volume 2'' New York: Routledge. p. 541. . is an American film critic and author. She contributed to '' The Village Voice''—first as a ...
at the
Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributo ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleo From 5 To 7
1962 films
1962 drama films
French drama films
1960s French-language films
Italian drama films
Films directed by Agnès Varda
Films partially in color
Films produced by Carlo Ponti
Films scored by Michel Legrand
1960s Italian films
1960s French films
Fortune-telling in popular culture
Existentialist films