Join us every Saturday in September for a French New Wave series presented by the Dallas Video Fest featuring CONTEMPT, LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD, JULES AND JIM, and CLEO FROM 5-7. Cléo from 5 to 7 is the first Varda film out of three that I analyze on our journey through French New Wave film, and I’m very excited to see what’s in store for us based on just this one masterfully done film. Such flourishes are more abruptly handled here than they are in the work of contemporaries like Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, so that at times this has the feel of an improvisational, experimental film. A chronicle of the minutes of one woman’s life, Cléo from 5 to 7 is a spirited mix of vivid vérité and melodrama, featuring a score by Michel Legrand (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) and cameos by Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina. Not to worry, though, for Easter candy has revived me! R.I.P. Specifically, let’s talk about my semester-long project for film class, Cleo de 5 a 7 (Cleo from 5 to 7). French New Wave: Cleo From 5-7 Synopsis. On that note, let’s talk about film! ( Log Out /  Other factors besides her illness are preventing Cleo from reaching such a state of contentment, including the love-hate relationship she seems to have with the gaze of others. The French New Wave marks a radical experiment in the making of film characterized by improvised dialogue and a shattering of cinematographic convention up until that time. What is the French New Wave? “My body makes me happy,” the friend replies, “not proud.”. The film centers on the two hours that a young singer, Cleo, must wait to hear from her doctor to find out if she has cancer. In this time, we follow a beautiful young singer, Florence 'Cléo' Victoire, as she walks the busy streets of Paris all the while awaiting a dreaded test result from her doctor. Cleo from 5 to 7 The term “New Wave” became widely used to describe a group of young French directors new to the scene towards the end of the 1950s. Cleo is a beautiful French singer awaiting the important results of a medical test. ( Log Out /  Cleo from 5 to 7. You know I’m a big advocate of foreign film, but this is most certainly one of the oldest ones I’ve ever seen, and needless to say I love it just as much as I love any other foreign film. And then there are the documentary elements, especially the long shots of Cleo walking amidst the crowded Parisian streets, parting the sea of humanity with her ethereal glamour. Varda, director of Cleo, is closely affiliated with a subgroup of filmmakers connected to the French New Wave, known as the “Rive Gauche” or the “Left Bank Movement.”. As the title reveals, Cléo de 5 à 7 takes place between 5pm and 7pm. Please allow me to introduce myself…I’m a poor tasteless college student. Dec 17, 2013 - This Pin was discovered by Dominique Allmon. featuring Corinne Marchand, Antoine Bourseiller, Dorothée Blanck, Michel Legrand, The film that established Agnès Varda’s international reputation, Cléo from 5 to 7 is a classic work of the French New Wave, distinguished by its original form and intimate portraiture. How French New Wave Offers Clarity. Early on, as a crowd of pedestrians waits to cross an intersection, Cleo brazenly steps past them into the street, confident she’ll be able to literally stop traffic. I like the general structure of this blog entry, giving the general reader an overview of just what the French New Wave movement was – something that I feel many people either don’t understand or simply don’t know about. The scene, which has no cuts and is one long-take, begins with the camera showing Cleo standing beside a piano as her pianist sits before the instrument and her songwriter stands behind it; out of the three characters in the frame, Cleo is the farthest away from the camera. Movies: Cléo From 5 To 7; Cléo, a French singer, anxiously awaits test results from her doctor. As a woman who could be approaching an untimely demise, this is a terrifying prospect, and a very relatable one to the audience. Cleo is just like any other pop-singer that we as a society quickly embrace, and then just as rapidly discard for something/someone new. Cleo from 5 to 7 An early sequence clearly marks Cleo from 5 to 7 as an artifact of the French New Wave: as Cleo (Corinne Marchand) walks down a staircase, the action is captured in a series of jump cuts that call attention to form in an exciting and then-new way. The sequence is interspersed with insert shots of her assistant and others giving her a direct stare, suggesting that Cleo registers such attention as unwanted judgment. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. This film technique works with Varda’s overall goal of achieving complete focus on Cleo’s anxiety, but Varda also demonstrates another element of the Left Bank movement by fusing non-diegetic sound with diegetic sound to make a song that only the audience can hear in its full spectrum. The film features a score by Michel Legrand (Umbrellas of Cherbourg) and cameos … (Who, after all, has not pondered what lasting effect our lives will have on the world, one that could live on after death?) It would be dangerous to psychoanalyze too much of Cleo’s behavior. (You could argue Francois Truffaut’s Jules and Jim, despite its title, was the latter.). French New Wave There is a moment early in Agnès Varda's 1962 film Cléo de 5 à 7 when the film's eponymous heroine, a pop singer named Cléo, notices a display of tribal masks in a shop window while riding in a taxi through the streets of Paris.1 This is an iconic moment in the film, highlighting the importance of masquerade in Cléo's narcissistic world of appearances. This film, although being a Rive Gauche picture, consists of many New Wave stylistic and narrative features. Yet the movie stands apart from the French New Wave in that it is very much the story of a woman, not about a woman. 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. One song in particular, entitled “Sans toi” (Without You), shows this conflict within Cleo (the anxiety of death and the fear of leaving no significant effect on the world) as well as how artfully Varda uses the long-take to convey Cleo’s fear. The film develops several themes: the fear of death, the possibility of living a meaningful life, the relations between human beings, the perception of women. She finally finds someone to share her fears and thoughts with openly when she meets a soldier who understands what it is like to live under the looming threat of death. Why, I thought you would never ask! Awaiting the results of a cancer test, she spends an agonizing two hours flitting among stores and cafes, simultaneously courting attention and deflecting it. As the movie goes on, what at first appears to be vanity on Cleo’s part matures into introspection. Violins begins to strum along with “Sans toi,” and then flutes are added, until finally it sounds like an orchestra complete with brass and other wind instruments are playing the accompaniment to Cleo’s voice. (Disclaimer: I’m about to go all film-major on you guys. From superstition to fear, from coquetry to anguish, Cleo nervously meanders through the streets of Paris for ninety minutes. And she does. When Jul 6, 2019 | 8:00 pm 2019-07-06 00:00:00 2019-07-06 00:00:00 UTC Films on the Lake Presents Cléo from 5 to 7 (Cléo de 5 à 7). Children seem to be something of a foil for Cleo, as well. The most blatant and noticeable art form outside of film that Varda incorporates into Cleo is music. They hardly notice her. ( Log Out /  ), Tagged as Cleo from 5 to 7, film, french new wave, left bank movement. In fact, unlike the talky philosophizing that dominates some New Wave films, there’s only one on-the-nose line here. How banging is that? Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. The term “La Nouvelle Vague,” or “French New Wave,” was coined by journalist Françoise Giroud in 1957 in the journal L’Express through a series of articles published by the magazine. The song ends, and immediately the camera abruptly zooms out to a standing long-shot of Cleo and the two men; the non-diegetic music disappears, and Cleo stops breaking the fourth wall, inserting herself seamlessly back into the film. Varda is sometimes referred to as the godmother of the French New Wave. It is indeed an art form, and I’m glad you bring that point up. Varda’s film was unusual at the time of its release in that its 90-minute run time documents in real time the life of Cléo Victoire, a famous and very beautiful singer, from the hours of 5 to 7pm. (Indeed, for a while Marchand is out-acted by her spectacular dresses, including a polka dot design with a skirt that doubles as a miniature train.) As the camera zooms closer towards Cleo’s face, non-diegetic instruments are added to the piano. The Matrix! And if that’s true, that may very well be what Varda was doing in Cléo from 5 to 7: creating the kind of fully-realized female character that her French New Wave contemporaries rarely bothered to envision. They are best known for their experimental approach in terms of editing and filming techniques. Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962 Agnès Varda) is an unusual picture that covers ninety-five minutes in the life of a Parisian actress awaiting the results of a critical medical test. The diegetic inclusion of Cleo’s music makes it clear that, within society, she is consistently present (Cleo’s music can be heard in a taxi she rides and a coffee shop she walks into) but instead of being a monumental figure, she is simply a cultural flare. Agnes Varda 's "Cleo from 5 to 7" is 90 minutes long, but its clock seems to tick along with Cleo's. In another scene, Cleo marches past a lone child banging on a toy piano on the sidewalk without acknowledging his presence. The entire sequence popped back into my mind as I read the descriptions, especially that moment when Cleo breaks the fourth wall and looks as if she is addressing the audience, complete with extreme emotion and a completely black background (right?). Fueled by a memorable score from Michel Legrand, the film serves as a portrait of Paris in the early 1960s as much as it does a minute-to-minute account of Cléo’s unpredictable emotions in the face of mortality. If Agnès Varda built her career with niche films like Daguerréotypes (1975) or The Gleaners and I (2000), she had already enjoyed several successful films with Vagabond in 1985 or Faces Places , co-directed with JR. French New Wave filmmaker Agnès Varda died on 29 March, aged 90. Cléo From 5 To 7 Review. It isn’t the job of Cleo from 5 to 7 to explain all women, after all, or even this particular one. Agnès Varda (French: [aɲɛs vaʁda]; born Arlette Varda, 30 May 1928 – 29 March 2019) was a Belgian-born French film director, screenwriter, photographer, and artist.Her pioneering work was central to the development of the widely influential French New Wave film movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Discover (and save!) Cléo from 5 To 7 is one of the first films by Agnes Varda, a French New Wave director. Cleo was released in 1962, at the height of the French New Wave, by notable New Wave/Left Bank Movement director, Agnès Varda. Okay, that was tough, I know, but it had to be said so I can explain some things to you guys about this film, and why these two things incorporated into it make it AWESOME. Though visually incumbent with its New Wave siblings, Cléo from 5-7 takes a strikingly feminine approach, and an exploration of mortality, appearance, and identity. There are other various things that make this film stand out as one of the greatest examples of the New Wave/Left Bank Movement, such as the incorporation of a short-film “Anna” and experimental camera movements that were typically used with handheld cameras for documentaries, but overall, the coolest tidbit associated with this film that I’d like to leave you with is the fact that the entire film is exactly 90 minutes long…which means that yes, it is set in real time, and it depicts every excruciating minute that Cleo must wait to find out the results of her test. It would be dangerous to psychoanalyze too much of Cleo’s behavior – especially when Marchand plays her, at least on the surface, with a vapid sort of remove. Michel Marie writes in The French New Wave: An Artistic School that when this term first was introduced to the scene, it was not exclusively linked to cinema, as “the label appeared in a sociological investigation of the phenomenon of the new postwar generation.”. Who knows, for, as you point out, the camera zooms back out abruptly and we see that she is still in the same place that she was when this sequence started. The film has a strong feminine viewpoint belonging to French feminismand raises que… The scene you describe to us in-depth is one that I remember you showing at the Film Symposium, so I was able to follow along with your analysis. Pink might have been doing while the boys were playing around in Reservoir Dogs.”. I also like how you keep in mind that music is an art form as well, something that many often forget. In particular, Jean-Luc Godard's À bout de souffle and Agnes Varda's Cléo from 5 to 7 revolutionized film. The young woman spends those two hours contemplating her own mortality and seeking an empathetic ear from her friends, but she receives only apathy and detachment. Is she now singing to us with an orchestra? The film deals with the themes of feminism, existentialism, and beauty. Cleo, a singer and hypochondriac, becomes increasingly worried that she might have cancer while awaiting test results from her doctor. Change ), Cleo from 5 to 7 and film techniques of the French New Wave, A Great Big Bushy Beard! Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Is this the haunting prospect of motherhood, something Cleo may have not previously considered but is now possibly slipping from her grasp? So, there you have it, reader. Cleo exemplifies these two classic Left Bank Movement elements. Cléo from 5 to 7 is one of Agnes Varda’s better-known films; it represents Varda’s particular brand of feminist storytelling, standing out alongside her own documentaries and her French New Wave contemporaries as an exquisite experiment to push the bounds of what it is a film can do. It depicts two hours in the life of a woman wandering throughout Paris on June 22, 1961. “…challenged me to think about what I praise in Black art—and why.”, “…imagines what Mrs. This spring six Washingtonian women spent seven days walking the … Cleo from 5 to 7 Directed by Agnès Varda Cléo from 5 to 7 - The Aesthetics of the French New Wave In this video essay, Daniel Blumensev discusses the aesthetics and style of the French New Wave through the lens of Agnès Varda’s 1962 film, Cléo from 5 to 7. She was best known for the films "Cléo from 5 to 7" and "Vagabond" and was … You’re progress on analyzing Cleo From 5 to 7 definitely shows the fruits of your labor after this semester-long study you’ve done with the film. First of all, the incorporation of other art forms. Written and directed by Agnes Varda, Cleo from 5 to 7 is a jumble of techniques, including a switch from color to black and white and occasional voiceover inserts. Later, however, after Cleo’s confidence has been chipped away by increasing worry, she tries to make her way through a line of pedestrians, but no one budges. And then there is the surreal image of an infant in an incubator being wheeled down the street, as Cleo passes by in a trolley. In a conversation with her friend, who poses nude for sculptors, Cleo asks her why she doesn’t feel self-conscious. Directed by Agnès Varda. your own Pins on Pinterest Simply being in her company, especially amidst the somewhat suffocating masculinity of the French New Wave, is enough. As she dejectedly discovers herself, Cleo possesses a fleeting claim to fame, one that might not even leave a lasting impression on the world. (That means “see you again,” or “til next time,” so, yeah, come back real soon now, ya’ll. Varda’s Cléo from 5 to 7, Photo from IMDB Dream holiday, holiday dreams. Once the pianist begins to play the introduction to “Sans toi” and signals for Cleo to sing, however, the camera pans to the left behind the pianist and slowly tracks forward towards the young woman, cutting out the other two and finally settling on Cleo’s profile in a striking extreme close-up. By keeping the camera focused on Cleo’s face alone, Varda forces the audience to confront the young woman’s inner turmoil. A defining image is the one of Cleo trying on hats in a boutique, which we watch through the store’s window. ( Log Out /  The film centers on the two hours that a young singer, Cleo, must wait to hear from her doctor to find out if she has cancer. Got to Get Back to The Matrix! And “For the Love of Movies!”. This is shown further as Cleo breaks the fourth wall and turns her face to look directly into the camera as she sings; the audience is able to see a tear rolling down her cheek. The threat of mortality has her, perhaps for the first time, considering what her beauty – indeed, what her life – is worth. Riding in a car with a friend (Dorothee Blanck), Cleo reveals her illness just as they plunge into a black tunnel. Two throwaway moments capture this changing sense of self nicely, especially when they’re considered as bookends. Throughout the entire film, snippets of songs are imbedded diegetically into the movie, mostly Cleo’s own songs. A chronicle of two crucial hours in one woman's life, Cleo from 5 to 7 is a spirited mix of vivid verite and melodrama. Saved from filmbalaya.files.wordpress.com. While linked to the New Wave, Left Bank directors were known for their own experimental techniques and approaches to film, such as incorporating other art forms into their films (most particularly literature and music) and the extreme long-take. Which means, a lot. Among the most enduring works of the French New Wave, Cléo from 5 to 7 follows a coquettish cabaret singer in real time as she awaits the results of a troubling medical test. Cleo from 5 to 7 is a French film (if you do not know of my adoration for foreign films, please see my previous blog on “For the Love of Movies!”). The film is known for its handling of several of the themes of existentialism, including discussions of mortality, the idea of despair, and leading a meaningful life. Cleo, you see, is a French pop star who has left her cocoon of handlers in a state of distress. Corinne Marchand. Cleo’s confrontation with her fleeting and seemingly meaningless success and fame parallels the anxiety she feels over her impending death, which she fears will occur much sooner than she had believed it to be. At first appears to be something of a foil for Cleo, You are commenting using your Twitter account imbedded... On, what at first appears to be something of a woman throughout... 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