Cléo from 5 to 7
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| - | '''Agnès Varda''' (30 May 1928 – 29 March 2019) was a Belgian-born [[French film director]]. Her films, photographs, and art installations focused on documentary realism, feminist issues, and [[social commentary]] with a distinctive experimental style. | + | '''''Cléo from 5 to 7''''' ({{lang-fr|'''Cléo de 5 à 7'''}}) is a 1962 French [[French New Wave#Left Bank|Left Bank film]] by [[Agnès Varda]]. The story starts with a young singer, Florence "Cléo" Victoire, at 5pm on June 21, as she waits until 6:30pm to hear the results of a medical test that will possibly confirm a diagnosis of [[cancer]]. The film is noted for its handling of several of the themes of [[existentialism]], including discussions of [[death|mortality]], the idea of [[Existential despair|despair]], and leading a meaningful life. The film also has a strong feminine viewpoint belonging to French feminism and raises questions about how women are perceived, especially in French society. The role of mirrors are prevalent to symbolize self-obsession, which Cléo embodies. |
| - | Film historians have cited Varda's work as central to the development of the [[French New Wave]]; her employment of [[location shooting]] and non-professional actors were unconventional in the context of 1950s French cinema. Among other awards and nominations over her career, she received honorary [[Palme d'or]] and [[Academy Honorary Award|Academy Awards]], won a [[Golden Lion]] and was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]]. | + | The film includes [[Cameo appearance|cameos]] by [[Jean-Luc Godard]], [[Anna Karina]], [[Eddie Constantine]] and [[Jean-Claude Brialy]] as characters in the [[silent film]] Raoul shows Cléo and Dorothée, while composer [[Michel Legrand]], who wrote the film's score, plays "Bob the pianist". It was entered into the [[1962 Cannes Film Festival]]. |
| - | ==Early life== | + | ==Plot== |
| - | Varda was born '''Arlette Varda''' on 30 May 1928 in [[Ixelles]], Brussels, Belgium, the daughter of Christiane (née Pasquet) and Eugène Jean Varda, an engineer. Her mother was from [[Sète]], France, and her father came from a family of Greek refugees from [[Asia Minor]]. She was the third of five children. When she was 18 Varda legally changed her name to Agnès. During [[World War II]] Varda lived on a boat in [[Sète]] with the rest of her family. Varda attended the [[Lycée Victor-Duruy]] and received a [[Bachelor's degree]] in literature and psychology from the [[Sorbonne]]. She described her relocation to Paris as a "truly excruciating" one that gave her "a frightful memory of my arrival in this grey, inhumane, sad city." She did not get along with her fellow students at the Sorbonne and described classes there as "stupid, antiquated, abstract, [and] scandalously unsuited for the lofty needs one had at that age." | + | Cléo Victoire (played by [[Corinne Marchand]]) is having a [[tarot card]] reading with a [[fortune teller]], who tells her that there is a widow in Cléo's life, who is completely devoted to her, but is also a terrible influence (her maid, Angèle). The fortune teller also sees that Cléo has recently met a generous young man, which she confirms, claiming that she doesn't see him too often, but he got her into the music industry. The fortune teller then says that she will meet a talkative young man. There is also an evil force in Cléo's life: a doctor. The fortune teller then pulls the [[The Hanged Man (Tarot card)|hanged man]] card, meaning that Cléo is ill, potentially with [[cancer]]. She then proceeds to pull the [[Death (Tarot card)|death]] tarot card, and Cléo requests that the fortune teller read her palm. After examining her lifeline, the fortune teller remains silent before telling Cléo that she does not read hands, leading Cléo to believe that she is doomed. |
| - | ==Career as a still photographer== | + | While distraught from her visit to the fortune teller, Cléo reminds herself "as long as I'm beautiful, I'm alive" and that death is ugly. She meets her maid, Angèle, at a café and recounts the results of the tarot card reading, claiming that if it's cancer, she'll kill herself. Cléo cries in the café, even though there are people around, including the owner of the café. Cléo and Angèle proceed to go hat shopping, where Cléo only pays attention to the black fur hats, despite Angèle constantly reminding her that it's summertime. The black hats all beckon her, and she eventually picks out a black, winter hat. Cléo wants to wear the hat home, but Angèle reminds her that it's Tuesday, and it's bad luck to wear something new on a Tuesday. They have the shopkeeper send the hat to Cléo's home, and Cléo and Angèle take a [[taxi]] home in time for Cléo's rehearsal. The taxi driver is a woman, and Cleo and Angele find her to be an interesting character. |
| - | Varda intended to become a museum curator and studied art history at the [[École du Louvre]], but decided to study photography at the Vaugirard school of photography instead. | + | |
| - | Varda began her career as a still photographer before becoming one of the major voices of the Left Bank Cinema and the French New Wave. However, she maintained a fluid interrelationship between photographic and cinematic forms: "I take photographs or I make films. Or I put films in the photos, or photos in the films." | + | On the ride home, one of Cléo's songs plays, and they listen to the radio, discussing current news including the [[Algerian War]], [[Rebellion|rebels]] who have been recently arrested, the [[Vienna summit|Vienna Conference]], [[President John F. Kennedy]] of the [[United States]], and even [[Édith Piaf]]'s recent surgery. Towards the end of the taxi ride, Cléo grows nauseous and attributes it to her illness. Upon returning home, Cléo cannot breathe, and Angèle tells her to do some exercise. Angèle helps her change into her clothes for rehearsal while Cléo is stretching out on a pull-up bar. She then lights a [[cigarette]] and relaxes in her bed. Before Cléo's lover, the man who the fortune teller mentioned earlier, enters the building, Angèle tells Cléo not to tell him that she's ill, because men "hate weakness". Her lover, a very busy man, tells her that he only has time to stop by for a kiss and that he'll be able to take her on vacation soon. Cléo tells him that she's ill, but he doesn't take her seriously. Cléo thinks that she's too good to men who are all egoists, to which Angèle agrees. |
| - | Varda discussed her beginning with the medium of still photography: "I started earning a living from photography straightaway, taking trivial photographs of families and weddings to make money. But I immediately wanted to make what I called 'compositions.' And it was with these that I had the impression I was doing something where I was asking questions with composition, form and meaning." | + | Once Cléo's lover leaves, Bob, a [[pianist]], and Maurice, a writer, arrive at her home for her rehearsal. Bob and Maurice pretend to be doctors once Angèle tells them that Cléo is ill, because "all women like a good joke." However, Cléo does not find their joke funny, as no one is taking her illness seriously but her. Bob goes to the piano, and they begin to practice some of Cléo's songs. As they practice, Cléo's mood quickly darkens after singing the song "Sans Toi." Cléo feels like all people do is exploit her and that it won't be long until she's just a puppet for the music industry. Saying that everyone spoils her but no one loves her, Cléo leaves everyone behind in her home. |
| - | In 1951, her friend Jean Vilar opened the [[Théâtre National Populaire]] and hired Varda as its official photographer. Before accepting her position there, she worked as a stage photographer for the Theatre Festival of Avignon. She worked at the Théâtre National Populaire for ten years from 1951 to 1961, during which time her reputation grew and she eventually got photo-journalist jobs throughout Europe. | + | On the way to a café, Cléo passes a street performer swallowing frogs and spitting them back out on a huge wave of water. She plays one of her songs at a [[jukebox]] in the café and is upset when no one seems to notice the music playing in the background. Instead of remaining at the café, Cléo goes to a sculpting studio to visit her old friend, Dorothée, who is [[Nude sculpture|modelling nude]] for an artist. Once she's finished, Dorothée claims that her body makes her happy, not proud, and Dorothée drives Cléo to her home. Cléo tells her friend that she is dying of cancer. Dorothée returns the car to her lover, a projectionist, and they watch a silent movie from the projection booth, which jokingly shows a woman dying. Leaving the cinema, Cléo accidentally breaks a mirror, which she claims is a bad [[omen]]. Cléo and Dorothée then take a taxi, and pass a crime scene where a man was killed. Dorothée tells her that the broken mirror was meant for that man, not Cléo. |
| - | Varda's still photography sometimes inspired her subsequent motion pictures. She recounted: "When I made my first film, ''La Pointe Courte'' — without experience, without having been an assistant before, without having gone to film school — I took photographs of everything I wanted to film, photographs that are almost models for the shots. And I started making films with the sole experience of photography, that's to say, where to place the camera, at what distance, with which lens and what lights?" Furthermore, she recalled another example: "I made a film in 1982 called ''Ulysse'', which is based on another photograph I took in 1954, one I'd made with the same bellows camera, and I started ''Ulysse'' with the words, "I used to see the image upside down." There's an image of a goat on the ground, like a fallen constellation, and that was the origin of the photograph. With those cameras, you'd frame the image upside down, so I saw Brassaï through the camera with his head at the bottom of the image." | + | Having dropped Dorothée off at her apartment, Cléo has the taxi driver take her to a park ([[Parc Montsouris]]). By a bridge on a river, Cléo meets Antoine, a soldier on leave from the Algerian War. Antoine helps Cléo realize her selfishness, and asks her to accompany him to the train station to return to the war if he accompanies her to the hospital to get her test results. Before leaving, Antoine confides in Cléo about his thoughts on the war, and that in Algeria, they die for nothing, and that scares him. He also tells Cléo that girls always seem to be afraid to give themselves completely to someone and that they're afraid of losing something close to them, so they love by halves. Cléo realizes that that describes her perfectly. Antoine and Cléo go to the hospital by bus, and the doctor who tested Cléo for her possible cancer isn't in, despite the fact that he told her he'd be present at 7 pm that day. Cléo and Antoine sit on a bench outside, as Cléo is still determined that the doctor will be there. While Cléo has come to terms with her illness and is able to face the test results with courage thanks to Antoine's help, the doctor rolls by in his car and tells her that Cléo will be fine and completely cured with two months of treatment. Cléo says that her fear seems to be gone, and she seems happy. She tells Antoine that they have plenty of time together before he leaves to go back to Algeria as a soldier. For the first time in at least two hours, Cléo seems to be happy as she looks at Antoine. |
| - | ==Early film career== | + | ==Cast== |
| - | The beginning of her career pre-dates the start of the ''Nouvelle vague'' ([[French New Wave]]), but contains many elements specific to that movement. While working as a photographer, Varda became interested in making a film, although she stated that she knew little about the medium and had only seen around twenty films by the age of twenty-five. She later said that she wrote her first screenplay "just the way a person writes his first book. When I'd finished writing it, I thought to myself: 'I'd like to shoot that script,' and so some friends and I formed a cooperative to make it." She found the filmmaking process difficult because it did not allow the same freedom as writing a novel; however she said that her approach was instinctive and feminine. In an interview with ''[[The Believer (magazine)|The Believer]]'', Varda stated that she wanted to make films that related to her time (in reference to ''[[La Pointe Courte]]''), rather than focusing on traditions or classical standards. | + | * [[Corinne Marchand]] as Cléo |
| + | * [[José Luis de Vilallonga]] as José, Cléo's lover | ||
| + | * Loye Payen as Irma | ||
| + | * [[Dominique Davray]] as Angèle | ||
| + | * [[Serge Korber]] as Maurice | ||
| + | * Dorothée Blanck as Dorothée | ||
| + | * [[Raymond Cauchetier]] as Raoul | ||
| + | * [[Michel Legrand]] as Bob | ||
| + | * [[Antoine Bourseiller]] as Antoine | ||
| + | * Robert Postec as Doctor Valineau | ||
| + | * [[Jean Champion]] as the café owner | ||
| + | * Jean-Pierre Taste as the waiter at the café | ||
| + | * Renée Duchateau as the seller of hats | ||
| + | * Lucienne Marchand as the taxi driver | ||
| - | ===''La Pointe Courte'' (1954)=== | + | ==Themes== |
| - | Varda liked photography but was interested in moving into film. After spending a few days filming the small French fishing town of La Pointe Courte for a terminally ill friend who could no longer visit on his own, Varda decided to shoot a feature film of her own. Thus in 1954, Varda's first film, ''[[La Pointe Courte]]'', about an unhappy couple working through their relationship in a small fishing town, was released. The film is a stylistic precursor to the [[French New Wave]]. At the time, Varda was influenced by the philosophy of [[Gaston Bachelard]], under whom she had once studied at the Sorbonne. "She was particularly interested in his theory of 'l'imagination des matières,' in which certain personality traits were found to correspond to concrete elements in a kind of psychoanalysis of the material world." This idea finds expression in ''La Pointe Courte'' as the characters' personality traits clash, shown through the opposition of objects such as wood and steel. To further her interest in character abstraction, Varda used two professional actors, [[Silvia Monfort]] and [[Philippe Noiret]], combined with the residents of La Pointe Courte, to provide a realistic element that lends itself to a documentary aesthetic inspired by neorealism. Varda continued to use this combination of fictional and documentary elements in her films. | + | |
| - | It was edited by friend and fellow [[French New Wave#Left Bank|Left Bank]] filmmaker [[Alain Resnais]], who was reluctant to work on the film because it was "so nearly the film he wanted to make himself" and its structure was very similar to his own ''[[Hiroshima mon amour]]'' (1959). While editing the film in Varda's apartment, Resnais kept annoying her by comparing the film to works by [[Luchino Visconti]], [[Michelangelo Antonioni]] and others that she was unfamiliar with "until I got so fed up with it all that I went along to the [[Cinémathèque Française|Cinémathèque]] to find out what he was talking about." Resnais and Varda remained lifelong friends, with Resnais stating that they had nothing in common "apart from cats." | + | While the film takes place in France, away from the Algerian front, the influence of [[Algerian War|Algerian war for independence]] is still strong. |
| + | The war greatly affected France during the 1950s and 1960s, where the demands for decolonization were the strongest. The soldier who Cléo meets towards the end of the film, Antoine, is on temporary leave from fighting in Algeria. Antoine also builds on the theme of existentialism that the film conveys, with his claims that the people in Algeria are dying for nothing. There are also protests on the street that Cléo encounters while taking a taxi back to her home. | ||
| - | The film was immediately praised by ''[[Cahiers du Cinéma]]''. [[André Bazin]] called it "a miraculous film. In its existence and in its style" and [[François Truffaut]] called it "an experimental work, ambitious, honest and intelligent." Varda said that the film "hit like a cannonball because I was a young woman, since before that, in order to become a director you had to spend years as an assistant." However the film was a financial failure and Varda only made short films for the next seven years. | + | ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' embodies the stereotypes that men subject women to and their oppressiveness. Cléo commonly complains that no one takes her seriously since she's a woman, and that the men think that she's faking her illness for attention. She seems to go along with these stereotypes as well, as many women in France did, telling herself essentially that beauty is everything by saying "as long as I'm beautiful, I'm alive." |
| - | + | ||
| - | Varda is considered the grandmother and the mother of the French New Wave. ''La Pointe Courte'' is unofficially but widely considered to be the first film of the movement. It was the first of many films she made that focus on issues faced by ordinary people. Late in her life, she said that she was not interested in accounts of people in power; instead she was "much more interested in the rebels, the people who fight for their own life". | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===''Cléo from 5 to 7'' (1961)=== | + | |
| - | Following ''La Pointe Courte'', Varda made several documentary short films; two were commissioned by the French tourist office. These shorts include one of Varda's favorites of her own works, ''L'opéra-mouffe'', a film about the Rue Mouffetard street market which won Varda an award at the Brussels Experimental Film Festival in 1958. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ''[[Cléo from 5 to 7]]'' follows a pop singer through two extraordinary hours in which she awaits the results of a recent biopsy. The film is superficially about a woman coming to terms with her mortality, which is a common auteurist trait for Varda. On a deeper level, ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' confronts the traditionally objectified woman by giving Cléo her own vision. She cannot be constructed through the gaze of others, which is often represented through a motif of reflections and Cleo's ability to strip her body of "to-be-looked-at-ness" attributes (such as clothing or wigs). Stylistically, ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' mixes documentary and fiction, as ''La Pointe Courte'' had. Although many believe that the ninety-minute film represents the diegetic action, which occurs between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., in real time, there is actually a half-hour difference. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==Later career== | + | |
| - | In 1977, Varda founded her own production company, Cine-Tamaris, in order to have more control over shooting and editing. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | In 2013, the [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]] held Varda's first American exhibition called "Agnes Varda in Californialand." The exhibition featured a sculptural installation, several photographs, and short films, and was inspired by time she spent in Los Angeles in the 1960s. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===''Vagabond'' (1985)=== | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | In 1985, Varda made ''[[Vagabond (film)|Sans toit ni loi]]'' ("without roof nor law"; known in most English-speaking countries as ''Vagabond''), a drama about the death of a young female drifter named Mona. The death is investigated by an unseen and unheard interviewer who focuses on the people who have last seen her. The story of ''Vagabond'' is told through nonlinear techniques, with the film being divided into forty-seven episodes, and each episode about Mona being told from a different person's perspective. ''Vagabond'' is considered to be one of Varda's greater feminist works because of how the film deals with the de-fetishization of the female body from the male perspective. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===''Jacquot de Nantes'' (1991)=== | + | |
| - | In 1991, shortly after her husband [[Jacques Demy]]'s death, Varda created the film ''[[Jacquot de Nantes]]'', which is about his life and death. The film is structured at first as being a recreation of his early life, being obsessed with the various crafts used for filmmaking like animation and set design. But then Varda provides elements of documentary by inserting clips of Demy's films as well as footage of him dying. The film continues with Varda's common theme of accepting death, but at its heart it is considered to be Varda's tribute to her late husband and their work. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===''The Gleaners and I'' (2000)=== | + | |
| - | ''[[The Gleaners and I|Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse]]'', or ''The Gleaners and I'', is a documentary made in 2000 that focuses on Varda's interactions with [[Gleaning|gleaners]] (harvesters) who live in the French countryside, and also includes subjects who create art through recycled material, as well as an interview with psychoanalyst [[Jean Laplanche]]. ''The Gleaners and I'' is notable for its fragmented and free-form nature along with it being the first time Varda used digital cameras. This style of filmmaking is often interpreted as a statement that great things like art can still be created through scraps, yet modern economies encourage people to only use the finest product. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===''Faces Places'' (2017)=== | + | |
| - | In 2017, Varda co-directed ''[[Faces Places (film)|Faces Places]]'' with the artist [[JR (artist)|JR]]. The film was screened out of competition at the [[2017 Cannes Film Festival]] where it won the [[L'Œil d'or]] award. The film follows Varda and JR traveling around rural France, creating portraits of the people they come across. Varda was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature]] for this film, making her the oldest person to be nominated for a competitive Oscar. Although the nomination was her first, Varda did not regard it as important, stating: "There is nothing to be proud of, but happy. Happy because we make films to love. We make films so that you love the film." | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==Style and influences== | + | |
| - | Many of Varda's films use protagonists that are marginalized or rejected members of society, and are documentary in nature. She made two short films on the Black Panthers (''Huey'' and ''Black Panthers'') after seeing their leader was arrested for killing a policeman. Their focus was on the demonstrations that people led in support of him and the Free Huey campaign. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Like many other French New Wave directors, Varda was likely influenced by [[auteur theory]], creating her own signature style by using the camera "as a pen." Varda describes her method of filmmaking as "cinécriture" (cinematic writing or "writing on film"). The term was created by merging "cinema" and "writing" in French. Rather than separating the fundamental roles that contribute to a film (such as cinematographer, screenwriter, and director), Varda believed that all roles should be working together simultaneously to create a more cohesive film, and all elements of the film should contribute to its message. She claimed to make most of her discoveries while editing, seeking the opportunity to find images or dialogue that create a motif. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Because of her photographic background, still images are often significant in her films. Still images may serve symbolic or narrative purposes, and each element of them is important. There is sometimes conflict between still and moving images in her films, and she often mixed still images (snapshots) with moving images. Varda paid very close attention to detail and was highly conscious of the implications of each cinematic choice she makes. Elements of the film are rarely just functional, each element has its own implications, both on its own and that it lends to the entire film's message. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Many of her influences were artistic or literary, including [[Surrealism]], [[William Faulkner]], [[Franz Kafka]], and [[Nathalie Sarraute]]. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | === Involvement in the French New Wave === | + | |
| - | Because of her literary influences, and because her work predates the French New Wave, Varda's films belong more precisely to the [[French New Wave#Left Bank|Left Bank]] (''Rive Gauche'') cinema movement, along with [[Chris Marker]], [[Alain Resnais]], [[Marguerite Duras]], [[Alain Robbe-Grillet]], [[Jean Cayrol]] and [[Henri Colpi]]. Categorically, the Left Bank side of the New Wave movement embraced a more experimental style than the ''Cahiers du Cinema'' group; however, this distinction is ironic considering the New Wave itself was considered experimental in its treatment of traditional methodologies and subjects. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | Left Bank Cinema was strongly tied to the ''nouveau roman'' movement in literature. The members of the group had in common a background in documentary filmmaking, a left wing political orientation, and a heightened interest in experimentation and the treatment of film as art. Varda and other Left Bank filmmakers crafted a mode of filmmaking that blends one of film's most socially motivated approaches, documentary, with one of its most formally experimental approaches, the avant-garde. Its members would often collaborate with each other. According to scholar Delphine Bénézet, Varda resisted the "norms of representation and diktats of production." | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===Varda as a feminist filmmaker=== | + | |
| - | Varda's work is often considered feminist because of her use of female protagonists and her creation of a female cinematic voice. Varda has been quoted as stating, "I'm not at all a theoretician of feminism, I did all that—my photos, my craft, my film, my life—on my terms, my own terms, and not to do it like a man." Although she was not actively involved in any strict agendas of the feminist movement, Varda often focused on women's issues thematically and never tried to change her craft to make it more conventional or masculine. | + | |
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| - | Historically, Varda is seen as the New Wave's mother. Film critic Delphine Bénézet has argued for Varda's importance as "au feminin singulier," a woman of singularity and of the utmost importance in film history. Varda embraced her femininity with distinct boldness. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==Filmography== | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===Feature films=== | + | |
| - | {| class="wikitable sortable" | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | ! Year | + | |
| - | ! Original title | + | |
| - | ! English title | + | |
| - | ! Credits | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1955 | + | |
| - | | ''[[La Pointe Courte]]'' | + | |
| - | | — | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1962 | + | |
| - | | ''Cléo de 5 à 7'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[Cléo from 5 to 7]]'' | + | |
| - | |Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1965 | + | |
| - | | ''[[Le Bonheur (1965 film)|Le Bonheur]]'' | + | |
| - | | ''Happiness'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1966 | + | |
| - | | ''[[Les Créatures]]'' | + | |
| - | | ''The Creatures'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1967 | + | |
| - | | ''Loin du Vietnam'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[Far from Vietnam]]'' | + | |
| - | | Co-Director | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1969 | + | |
| - | | ''Lions Love'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[Lions Love]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer, Producer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1975 | + | |
| - | | ''Daguerréotypes'' | + | |
| - | | — | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1977 | + | |
| - | | ''L'Une chante, l'autre pas'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[One Sings, the Other Doesn't]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | | 1981 | + | |
| - | | ''Mur murs'' | + | |
| - | |''Mural Murals'' | + | |
| - | |Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1981 | + | |
| - | |''Documenteur'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[Documenteur]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1985 | + | |
| - | | ''Sans toit ni loi'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[Vagabond (film)|Vagabond]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer, Editor | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1988 | + | |
| - | |''Jane B. par Agnes V'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[Jane B. par Agnès V.|Jane B. by Agnes V.]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer, Editor | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1987 | + | |
| - | |''Le petit amour'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[Kung Fu Master (film)|Kung Fu Master]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1991 | + | |
| - | | ''[[Jacquot de Nantes]]'' | + | |
| - | | ''Jacquot'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1993 | + | |
| - | | ''Les demoiselles ont eu 25 ans'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[The Young Girls Turn 25]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1994 | + | |
| - | | ''Les Cent et une nuits de Simon Cinéma'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[A Hundred and One Nights (film)|A Hundred and One Nights]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1995 | + | |
| - | |''L'univers de Jacques Demy'' | + | |
| - | |''[[The World of Jacques Demy]]'' | + | |
| - | |Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |2000 | + | |
| - | | ''Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[The Gleaners and I]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer, Producer, Editor | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |2002 | + | |
| - | | ''Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse... deux ans après'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[The Gleaners and I: Two Years Later]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Editor | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |2004 | + | |
| - | | ''Cinévardaphoto'' | + | |
| - | |''[[Cinévardaphoto]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |2006 | + | |
| - | | ''Quelques veuves de Noirmoutier'' | + | |
| - | |''[[Some Widows of Noirmoutier]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |2008 | + | |
| - | | ''Les plages d'Agnès'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[The Beaches of Agnès]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer, Producer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |2017 | + | |
| - | | ''Visages Villages'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[Faces Places (film)|Faces Places]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |2019 | + | |
| - | | ''Varda par Agnès'' | + | |
| - | | ''[[Varda by Agnès]]'' | + | |
| - | | Director | + | |
| - | |} | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===Short films=== | + | |
| - | {| class="wikitable sortable" | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | ! Year | + | |
| - | ! Original title | + | |
| - | ! English title | + | |
| - | ! Credits | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | | 1958 | + | |
| - | | ''L'opéra-mouffe'' | + | |
| - | | ''Diary of a Pregnant Woman'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1958 | + | |
| - | | ''La cocotte d'azur'' | + | |
| - | | - | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1958 | + | |
| - | |''Du côté de la côte'' | + | |
| - | |''Along the Coast'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1958 | + | |
| - | |''Ô saisons, ô châteaux '' | + | |
| - | | - | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1961 | + | |
| - | |''Les fiancés du pont MacDonald ou (Méfiez-vous des lunettes noires)'' | + | |
| - | | - | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1963 | + | |
| - | |''Salut les cubains'' | + | |
| - | | - | + | |
| - | |Director, Star | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1965 | + | |
| - | |''Elsa la rose'' | + | |
| - | | - | + | |
| - | |Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1967 | + | |
| - | |''Oncle Yanco'' | + | |
| - | |''Uncle Yanco'' | + | |
| - | |Director, Writer, Star | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1968 | + | |
| - | |''Black Panthers'' | + | |
| - | |[[Black Panthers (film)|''Black Panthers'']] | + | |
| - | | Director | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1968 | + | |
| - | |''Huey'' | + | |
| - | | | + | |
| - | |Director | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1975 | + | |
| - | |''Réponse de femmes: Notre corps, notre sexe'' | + | |
| - | | ''Women Reply'' | + | |
| - | |Director, Writer, Star | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1976 | + | |
| - | | ''Plaisir d'amour en Iran'' | + | |
| - | | - | + | |
| - | |Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1984 | + | |
| - | |''Les dites cariatides '' | + | |
| - | |''The So-Called Caryatids'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer, Star | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1984 | + | |
| - | |''7p. cuis., s. de b., ... à saisir'' | + | |
| - | | - | + | |
| - | |Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1986 | + | |
| - | |''T'as de beaux escaliers, tu sais '' | + | |
| - | |''You've Got Beautiful Stairs, You Know'' | + | |
| - | |Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1982 | + | |
| - | |''Ulysse'' | + | |
| - | |''Ulysse'' | + | |
| - | |Director, Writer, Star | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |2003 | + | |
| - | | ''Le lion volatil'' | + | |
| - | | - | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |2004 | + | |
| - | | ''Ydessa, les ours et etc.'' | + | |
| - | | ''Ydessa, the Bears and etc.'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |2004 | + | |
| - | |''Der Viennale '04-Trailer'' | + | |
| - | |''Venice International Film Festival 2004 - Trailer'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer, Star | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |2005 | + | |
| - | |''Les dites cariatides bis'' | + | |
| - | | - | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |2005 | + | |
| - | |''Cléo de 5 à 7: souvenirs et anecdotes'' | + | |
| - | |''Cléo from 5 to 7: Remembrances and Anecdotes'' | + | |
| - | | Director | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |2015 | + | |
| - | |''Les 3 Boutons'' | + | |
| - | |''The Three Buttons'' | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer | + | |
| - | |} | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ===Television work=== | + | |
| - | {| class="wikitable sortable" | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | ! Year | + | |
| - | ! Original title | + | |
| - | ! English title | + | |
| - | ! Credits | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | | 1970 | + | |
| - | | ''Nausicaa'' (TV movie) | + | |
| - | | - | + | |
| - | | Writer, Director | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |1983 | + | |
| - | |''Une minute pour une image'' (TV series Documentary) | + | |
| - | | - | + | |
| - | |Director | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | |2010 | + | |
| - | |''P.O.V.'', episode 3, season 23, "The Beaches of Agnes" | + | |
| - | | - | + | |
| - | |Director, Writer, Producer, Cinematographer | + | |
| - | |- | + | |
| - | | 2011 | + | |
| - | | ''Agnès de ci de là Varda'', 5 episodes (TV series documentary) | + | |
| - | | - | + | |
| - | | Director, Writer, Star | + | |
| - | |} | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==Publications== | + | |
| - | * {{fr}}'' Les Plages d'Agnès: texte illustré du film d'Agnès Varda'', collection Mémoires de César, éditions de l'Œil, 108 pp. (2010) | + | |
| - | * {{fr}}'' L'île et elle: Agnès Varda'', Actes sud, 81 pp. (2006) | + | |
| - | * {{fr}}'' Sans toit ni loi: un film d'Agnès Varda'', L'Avant-scène Cinéma, 92 pp. (2003) | + | |
| - | * {{fr}}'' Varda par Agnès'', Les Cahiers du Cinéma (1994, reprint 2005) | + | |
| - | * {{fr}}'' La Côte d'Azur, d'azur, d'azur, d'azur'', collection Lieu-dit, Les éditions du Temps (1961) | + | |
| + | France experienced a sudden rise in the practice of [[existentialism]] and existential thoughts and philosophies in the 1940s, which remained prominent through the 1960s. ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' is largely an existential film, as for the entirety of the film, Cléo struggles with her existence and the potential of facing her mortality. The impending results of her medical exam and the mere possibility that she may be diagnosed with cancer leaves Cléo open to an existential mind where she is aware of her own mortality. Further, upon meeting Antoine, the soldier talks about the deaths of the Algerian War, and that they are dying for nothing and without a purpose, further appealing to the existential philosophy. | ||
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Revision as of 17:50, 30 March 2019
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Cléo from 5 to 7 (Template:Lang-fr) is a 1962 French Left Bank film by Agnès Varda. The story starts with a young singer, Florence "Cléo" Victoire, at 5pm on June 21, as she waits until 6:30pm to hear the results of a medical test that will possibly confirm a diagnosis of cancer. The film is noted for its handling of several of the themes of existentialism, including discussions of mortality, the idea of despair, and leading a meaningful life. The film also has a strong feminine viewpoint belonging to French feminism and raises questions about how women are perceived, especially in French society. The role of mirrors are prevalent to symbolize self-obsession, which Cléo embodies.
The film includes cameos by Jean-Luc Godard, Anna Karina, Eddie Constantine and Jean-Claude Brialy as characters in the silent film Raoul shows Cléo and Dorothée, while composer Michel Legrand, who wrote the film's score, plays "Bob the pianist". It was entered into the 1962 Cannes Film Festival.
Plot
Cléo Victoire (played by Corinne Marchand) is having a tarot card reading with a fortune teller, who tells her that there is a widow in Cléo's life, who is completely devoted to her, but is also a terrible influence (her maid, Angèle). The fortune teller also sees that Cléo has recently met a generous young man, which she confirms, claiming that she doesn't see him too often, but he got her into the music industry. The fortune teller then says that she will meet a talkative young man. There is also an evil force in Cléo's life: a doctor. The fortune teller then pulls the hanged man card, meaning that Cléo is ill, potentially with cancer. She then proceeds to pull the death tarot card, and Cléo requests that the fortune teller read her palm. After examining her lifeline, the fortune teller remains silent before telling Cléo that she does not read hands, leading Cléo to believe that she is doomed.
While distraught from her visit to the fortune teller, Cléo reminds herself "as long as I'm beautiful, I'm alive" and that death is ugly. She meets her maid, Angèle, at a café and recounts the results of the tarot card reading, claiming that if it's cancer, she'll kill herself. Cléo cries in the café, even though there are people around, including the owner of the café. Cléo and Angèle proceed to go hat shopping, where Cléo only pays attention to the black fur hats, despite Angèle constantly reminding her that it's summertime. The black hats all beckon her, and she eventually picks out a black, winter hat. Cléo wants to wear the hat home, but Angèle reminds her that it's Tuesday, and it's bad luck to wear something new on a Tuesday. They have the shopkeeper send the hat to Cléo's home, and Cléo and Angèle take a taxi home in time for Cléo's rehearsal. The taxi driver is a woman, and Cleo and Angele find her to be an interesting character.
On the ride home, one of Cléo's songs plays, and they listen to the radio, discussing current news including the Algerian War, rebels who have been recently arrested, the Vienna Conference, President John F. Kennedy of the United States, and even Édith Piaf's recent surgery. Towards the end of the taxi ride, Cléo grows nauseous and attributes it to her illness. Upon returning home, Cléo cannot breathe, and Angèle tells her to do some exercise. Angèle helps her change into her clothes for rehearsal while Cléo is stretching out on a pull-up bar. She then lights a cigarette and relaxes in her bed. Before Cléo's lover, the man who the fortune teller mentioned earlier, enters the building, Angèle tells Cléo not to tell him that she's ill, because men "hate weakness". Her lover, a very busy man, tells her that he only has time to stop by for a kiss and that he'll be able to take her on vacation soon. Cléo tells him that she's ill, but he doesn't take her seriously. Cléo thinks that she's too good to men who are all egoists, to which Angèle agrees.
Once Cléo's lover leaves, Bob, a pianist, and Maurice, a writer, arrive at her home for her rehearsal. Bob and Maurice pretend to be doctors once Angèle tells them that Cléo is ill, because "all women like a good joke." However, Cléo does not find their joke funny, as no one is taking her illness seriously but her. Bob goes to the piano, and they begin to practice some of Cléo's songs. As they practice, Cléo's mood quickly darkens after singing the song "Sans Toi." Cléo feels like all people do is exploit her and that it won't be long until she's just a puppet for the music industry. Saying that everyone spoils her but no one loves her, Cléo leaves everyone behind in her home.
On the way to a café, Cléo passes a street performer swallowing frogs and spitting them back out on a huge wave of water. She plays one of her songs at a jukebox in the café and is upset when no one seems to notice the music playing in the background. Instead of remaining at the café, Cléo goes to a sculpting studio to visit her old friend, Dorothée, who is modelling nude for an artist. Once she's finished, Dorothée claims that her body makes her happy, not proud, and Dorothée drives Cléo to her home. Cléo tells her friend that she is dying of cancer. Dorothée returns the car to her lover, a projectionist, and they watch a silent movie from the projection booth, which jokingly shows a woman dying. Leaving the cinema, Cléo accidentally breaks a mirror, which she claims is a bad omen. Cléo and Dorothée then take a taxi, and pass a crime scene where a man was killed. Dorothée tells her that the broken mirror was meant for that man, not Cléo.
Having dropped Dorothée off at her apartment, Cléo has the taxi driver take her to a park (Parc Montsouris). By a bridge on a river, Cléo meets Antoine, a soldier on leave from the Algerian War. Antoine helps Cléo realize her selfishness, and asks her to accompany him to the train station to return to the war if he accompanies her to the hospital to get her test results. Before leaving, Antoine confides in Cléo about his thoughts on the war, and that in Algeria, they die for nothing, and that scares him. He also tells Cléo that girls always seem to be afraid to give themselves completely to someone and that they're afraid of losing something close to them, so they love by halves. Cléo realizes that that describes her perfectly. Antoine and Cléo go to the hospital by bus, and the doctor who tested Cléo for her possible cancer isn't in, despite the fact that he told her he'd be present at 7 pm that day. Cléo and Antoine sit on a bench outside, as Cléo is still determined that the doctor will be there. While Cléo has come to terms with her illness and is able to face the test results with courage thanks to Antoine's help, the doctor rolls by in his car and tells her that Cléo will be fine and completely cured with two months of treatment. Cléo says that her fear seems to be gone, and she seems happy. She tells Antoine that they have plenty of time together before he leaves to go back to Algeria as a soldier. For the first time in at least two hours, Cléo seems to be happy as she looks at Antoine.
Cast
- Corinne Marchand as Cléo
- José Luis de Vilallonga as José, Cléo's lover
- Loye Payen as Irma
- Dominique Davray as Angèle
- Serge Korber as Maurice
- Dorothée Blanck as Dorothée
- Raymond Cauchetier as Raoul
- Michel Legrand as Bob
- Antoine Bourseiller as Antoine
- Robert Postec as Doctor Valineau
- Jean Champion as the café owner
- Jean-Pierre Taste as the waiter at the café
- Renée Duchateau as the seller of hats
- Lucienne Marchand as the taxi driver
Themes
While the film takes place in France, away from the Algerian front, the influence of Algerian war for independence is still strong. The war greatly affected France during the 1950s and 1960s, where the demands for decolonization were the strongest. The soldier who Cléo meets towards the end of the film, Antoine, is on temporary leave from fighting in Algeria. Antoine also builds on the theme of existentialism that the film conveys, with his claims that the people in Algeria are dying for nothing. There are also protests on the street that Cléo encounters while taking a taxi back to her home.
Cléo from 5 to 7 embodies the stereotypes that men subject women to and their oppressiveness. Cléo commonly complains that no one takes her seriously since she's a woman, and that the men think that she's faking her illness for attention. She seems to go along with these stereotypes as well, as many women in France did, telling herself essentially that beauty is everything by saying "as long as I'm beautiful, I'm alive."
France experienced a sudden rise in the practice of existentialism and existential thoughts and philosophies in the 1940s, which remained prominent through the 1960s. Cléo from 5 to 7 is largely an existential film, as for the entirety of the film, Cléo struggles with her existence and the potential of facing her mortality. The impending results of her medical exam and the mere possibility that she may be diagnosed with cancer leaves Cléo open to an existential mind where she is aware of her own mortality. Further, upon meeting Antoine, the soldier talks about the deaths of the Algerian War, and that they are dying for nothing and without a purpose, further appealing to the existential philosophy.
