Customer Reviews

Cleo From 5 to 7 [VHS]

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's not so very often that I see a movie two evenings in a row, but I simply had to do it with French director Agnès Varda's CLEO FROM 5 TO 7. Because, unlike in today first and only degree movies, there is so much in it. Not only in the dialogs, but also in the way Agnès Varda has patiently built her movie ; just try to watch CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 while concentrating on what is behind the main action, observe the clocks that are always present and remind us Cléo's fate, look at the stores punctuating Cléo's race through the Paris of 1961. You have to literally read this movie.

Cléo, an addict of all kind of superstitions, will show you the way ; for her, everything and everybody knows that she is marked by illness. With her and Angèle, her guardian, you will learn how to read the signs that are surrounding you. The first scene of the movie, in a fortune-teller's apartment, is the only scene shot in colour and, in my opinion, a lesson of cinema.

Music and songs take also an important place in Agnés Varda's CLEO FROM 5 TO 7. Michel Legrand, the future composer of THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG and LES DEMOISELLES OF ROCHEFORT, plays the role of Cléo's friend and composer and delivers a superb performance. Corinne Marchand has the beauty of a French depressed Marilyn Monroe and her encounter with a returning soldier is a moment of pure freshness.

Excellent sound and images for this Criterion release but,alas, no extra-features except for english subtitles.

A DVD for your library.

"Cleo from 5 to 7" was shot mostly on the streets of Paris where our beautiful heroine, a rather shallow singer and model, roams after she's taken a hypochondriac's test to see if she has cancer. Floating on the mood of doubt she has accumulated (which won't be allayed until the test results come in), she sees things with new eyes, becomes deeper and less superficial, and eventually meets up with a chance stranger who gently goads her into a new type of romance.

Varda's film isn't exactly "eccentric," "difficult" or "intellectual" as some New Wave films are, but then it's nowhere near trite or simplistic either. Above all, it's just an amazingly beautiful and poetic film, and, of course, very romantic in a patented French way. Varda being a woman, it follows logically that the so-called 'women's angle' is well represented, yet for all that, if you didn't know Varda was female, you'd probably never guess it from watching her film. It's very close in tone to her husband Jacues Demy's "Lola," early Truffaut and Chabrol's 1960 masterpiece "Les Bonnes Femmes," which also deals with women's problems, and which hardly anyone has seen since it's criminally never been released on video.

Even if French New Wave Cinema of the 1950's and 1960's is of no interest to you, don't be put off seeing this incredible film. If you do have an interest in films from this period and you haven't yet seen "Cleo" then make a promise to yourself to see this film now. Director Agnes Varda made a movie back in 1960-61 that rises above language, time, place and fashion to be a masterpiece in world cinema. In some respects this is a neglected masterpiece as it is seldom spoken in the same breath as films like "400 Blows", but that makes the pleasure of discovering it all the more sweet. Amongst the highlights - a gorgeous and clever score by Michel Legrand who makes a wonderful appearance as "Bob, the Pianist"; astonishing camerawork throughout - innumerable sequences that make you wonder "how did they do that?". Varda is such an assured filmmaker that she can turn what at first appear to be momentary lapses of energy and inspiration into ever more revealing and moving climaxes. One of the great movies. You won't regret spending a summer evening in Paris with Cleo.

It's odd, I know, to call a film charming when its focus is about a woman's two hours of waiting before finding out if she has cancer. But "Cleo" isn't a sad story about cancer, really. It's a charming story about how to live your life somewhere between the superficial and profound when something alarming happens.

Cleo's a pop singer. She sings light ditties that get French radio play. She spends her time shopping for hats, hanging out in cafes, carrying on meaningless-if-romantic affairs with songwriters. She's beautiful. She's fashionable. On the surface, she looks like she's having a good time. And she usually is.

This movie's about what she did in the two hours before receiving her prognosis from her doctor. Should she just go on and live life as if nothing's come along to trouble her? If she chooses to, how does she go about confronting her own mortality?

Corinne Marchand, as Cleo, chooses both paths for her. As she wanders the streets of Paris, she plays Cleo as though she's unable to decide whether to be happy-go-lucky. Thus, the lush, beautiful film by Agnes Varda is both light and resonant, fun and meaningful.

It's like an "Amelie" that will make you cry as well as laugh.

Done in a style predating the French New Wave, it manages to be about how to go shopping when you may be about to die.

And the Criterion release is just great.

In my view, Agnes Varda, with the possible exception of Alain Resnais, is the most underrated French New Wave director. While not as visible a presence as either Godard, Truffaut, Chabrol or Rivette, her style was no less innovative and influential. Whereas Jules and Jim, 400 Blows, and Breathless all rank in the top 1000 on ... sales list, CLEO FROM 5 to 7 ranks #4029. Even Godard's VIVRE SA VIE ranks #3410. If you appreciate the films of Godard and Truffaut, there is no excuse for not adding Varda's masterpiece to your collection. CLEO is an absorbing character study told in real time, accompanied by a superb Michel Legrande score. Thus, I must respectfully disagree with the reviewer who, in good faith, described this film as neither "difficult" nor "intellectual." Perhaps, it is not as self-reflexive as other New Wave films, but its visual poetry is equally challenging. Likewise, I think CLEO is very different in tone from Demy's LOLA or LES BONNES FEMMES, which for me is what distguishes Varda's film from the countless other pictures made in the 60's that follow beautiful French actresses around Paris. It is serious, yet light (not in the sense of superficial), and the delicate balance the film mantains between these two tones is reflective of Varda's main virtue as a filmmaker, and what distinguishes this film from LOLA, et cetera. Varda's style is playful, without being overly inronic as I often find Godard, and warm, without falling into melodrama. Please do not mininterpret these remarks: I love all the films listed above. And yet I think CLEO FROM 5 to 7 possesses numerous virtues that make it not just another film of the French New Wave. Also, it is refreshing to hear a female voice in cinema. As as always, the Critrion transfer is superb.

Cleo (Corinne Marchand), a successful singer, fears the result of a biopsy as she is anxiously anticipating the results of her test. While waiting, Cleo has a fortuneteller read her cards, which predict death. This leads Cleo to expect that she will die from cancer. The film depicts Cleo's two hour long wait for the results of the biopsy as she is restlessly searching for a meaning. As she searches she discovers our own self-importance and insignificance in the world. Agnès Varda directs a superb vision of Cleo's wait and pursuit, which is in the true spirit of French New Wave. An example of the realism of French New Wave is the opening scene, shot in color that fades into black and white, which visually enhances the psychological undertones of the film's theme. Another example is the crude camera work that becomes apparent as the camera pans and moves with Cleo elevating the cinematic experience to a genuine event. It is this genuine feel that makes this cinematic experience amazing and it leaves the audience with something to ponder.

The basic story of Cleo From 5 to 7 has been stated by other reviewers. In brief, it chronicles two hours in the life of Cleo, a singer, as she waits for the results of tests that will diagnose her stomach ailment. Starting with the brief Tarot Card reading (in color) -- spoiler alert -- the prediction that Cleo faces death, the film reverts to black and white. But what a masterpiece of black and white photography!

The adventures of Cleo during the two hours (real time and cinematic time) of waiting reveal the gradual peeling away of her narcissism. Another alert reviewer spoke about "reading" this film. He gave as an example the time on the clocks every time Cleo walks by one. An even more subtle and more telling example of how the visual images express the plot development and the transformation of the main character is in the reflections seen in windows and mirrors. During her more narcissistic moments at the beginning of the film we note that every time Cleo walks by a window we see her reflection, and she often notices it as well. As the film progresses the reflections in windows and mirrors gradually diminishes. By the end of the film there are no more windows and mirrors and Cleo is just her human self -- without the added narcissistic reflections.

In the last twenty minutes or so of the film Cleo has what approximates an unpretentious reloationship with an ordinary fellow, a soldier on leave who is about to return to his unit to fight in Algeria. He agrees to accompany her to the hospital where she is about to get her test results. When they arrive the doctor is not there. In resignation they walk out only to encounter the doctor leaving in his car. He coldly and abruptly announces that indeed Cleo has a bad diagnosis and that treatment will be starting shortly.

Cleo takes this news with surprising serenity, in keeping with the transformation from her narcissistic and hysteroid personality at the beginning of the story to the more mature person she has been shown to have become. The soldier says to her that he wishes he could be there for her during the treatment. She replies that he is with her now. Cleo, during those two hours, has learned that the only thing she has is the present.

If this sounds like a "downer" in my description, please let me assure you that this is a very affirmative film. And as I mentioned earlier, it is a masterpiece example of how subtle visual clues advance the story and its underlying theme. Varda is an outstanding director.

A note on the DVD itself. This transfer is in keeping with the usual high standard found on Criterion DVD's. I wish all DVD's were released with the same loving attention to detail, both in picture and sound, that is par for the course with Criterion.

Highly recommended.

Cleo, a singer, played by Corinne Marchand, has stomach pains and is awaiting the results of hospital tests for which she has a seven o'clock appointment. When, at five o'clock she is told by a fortune-teller that she has only a short time left to live, it seems like a confirmation of her worst fears; that she must have cancer. Fully convinced she has received a death sentence, she spends the next two hours in a cloud of fear and depression. But, as Dostoevsky said when he too faced a death sentence; the imminence of death concentrates the mind wonderfully.

A quite amazing amount of incident is packed into the next two hours. We stay with her through every minute in real time as, with a heightened sense of awareness, she visits friends, walks and drives around the bustling streets of Paris, and sits in some of the famous left-bank cafes listening to fragments of conversation about painting, politics and philosophy to which at any other time she would have paid no attention. Everything reminds her of the short time she may have left to live. And to add to her woes she has an uncaring lover she can't confide in. "I listen to his troubles." she says, "but he won't listen to mine. If I died tomorrow he'd be surprised but he wouldn't care. He's an egotist."

The way she discards her ridiculous wig and changes into an elegant black dress before walking out for the first time alone, is intended to convey a change of attitude and persona brought on by her fear that death is near. Up to that point she had been just another frivolous pop-star without a serious thought in her head and under the dominion of her minder/manager. Now she is transformed into a confident, independent woman able to see the world through her own eyes.

While walking in the park with only twenty minutes to go, she gets into conversation with Antoine, a soldier on leave, played by Antoine Bourseiller. He is funny, sensitive and articulate and they quickly build up a rapport. He is a great comfort to her. When she unburdens herself to him, he says that as they are both going in the same direction he will go with her to the hospital.

The film is extremely realistic. I'm sure no extras were employed. All the conversations she overhears in the crowded cafes were, I think, real conversations between real people, unaware that they were being filmed. The same seems true of the outdoor scenes, though I must say I was made to wonder about the extraordinarily handsome bus conductor - possibly the only unrealistic touch in the whole film.

This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film. As a cancer survivor, I feel for the woman in this movie.

This film occurs in almost real-time like the TV series 24. The 90 minute film covers the events between 5 and 7 PM as a woman awaits the results of a biopsy. She goes through town and meets various people. The film has great acting and has a full-color sequence at the beginning of the film when cleo is seeing a Tarot card reader in an attempt to predict what will happen to her. The original French title of the film is "Cléo de 5 à 7"

The Criterion DVD does not have any special features which is rather unusual for a Criterion Collection DVD.

This film is one of the finest from the Left Bank film directors. It is not very often that we find such highly regarded female directors, especially in Europe. Agnes Varda, through this film, captures the feelings of "the woman in the spotlight" through Cleo, the seemingly girlish, conceited, but ultimately redeemed pop singer.

We follow Cleo around Paris for 2 hours as she waits for medical test results that could very well be fatal, much of the time being played out onscreen without interruption. Though slow moving at first, we come to understand each of the characters she comes in contact with, Angele, her lover, Antonio, through their treatment of Cleo.

Also notable is the changes which are visible in Cleo, made quite aparant by the master filmmaking of Varda. While at first the object of gazes and adoration, she eventually begins to look outward independently as the camara takes her POV, signifying Cleo's own realization that life as a simply object and plaything of others is wholly unsatisfying.

Note: The film-within-the-film stars none other than the French filmmaker and intimate friend of Varda, Godard (Breathless, A Band of Outsiders).