Cléo de 5 à 7

You had it all, but now the world is caving in, it's like a wallop from a boxer on the chin, nobody cares, they can't perceive, of the news you've just received, but you must wait for confirmation, in tailspin. So you walk around the streets with your sights guarded, in a world that's so intense, you feel bombarded, but it should come as no surprise, as others open up your eyes, that those fears and trepidations, can be discarded.

Florence 'Cléo' Victoire goes through the mill, as any of us would, coming to terms with the news that she may have a serious illness at such a young age, and finding out, in a relatively short period of time, that the sky will not fall down, and that there are those always willing to help out.

Beautifully performed and superbly imagined and directed.

First scene (shot in color):Cleo visits the fortune-teller:ignorance,confusion.Last scene:Cleo is a responsible woman now,she's ready to cope with a not-so-rose future:enlightenment. Between the scenes ,one hour and a half (the title is a misnomer).Historically,it's not the first film whose story unfolds in real time (see Robert Wise:the set up).But the concept is here totally mastered. At the beginning of the movie,Cleo is a precious,soft ,selfish young girl.The fortune-teller epitomizes naïvete,a non-scientific attitude.And however,the lady says something important when Cleo draws a skeleton from the tarot pack:"do not panic,the arms and the legs are still covered with flesh.Your own being is about to change deeply." The fortune tells that to comfort Cleo -later she'll tell her husband "cards say "death!",and as for me I've seen cancer"-and the end would prove she was right though. After leaving the fortune-teller,Cleo meets some people ,most of them indifferent,she cannot communicate her anguish to any of them.Everybody' s busy about himself.They listen to her,but they can't hear her. Then she takes her black glasses off!It's a symbol,now she's ready to see the world as it is.She meets Antoine ,he's a soldier about to return to Algeria to fight in a dirty war.Both are afraid,both have found the comfort they needed so!Now Cleo has opened up,she can face the terrible illness."I'm not afraid anymore,she says,I think that I'm happy"

A film about living life in the shadow of death, about how viewing the world without sunglasses lets in the light, and shows us the truth. This beautful movie is made with surging energy and a lightness of touch by Agnes Varda, the immortal poet of French cinema. It is superbly constructed while feeling as if it were being made up as it goes along. The camera captures a Paris that in some ways has disappeared but in others is still with us and which I hope will remain forever.

Corinne Marchand is forever Cleo, a singer waiting for the result of a recent medical test. When she sings her "Sans Toi", your eyes will fill with tears; when she vamps her way down the steps in Montsouris Park, you'll smile your broadest smile. Around her, life teems -- friends, colleagues, strangers and their children, animals, trees, overheard conversations, momentary remarks -- all observed with a keen eye and endless compassion by Varda and her team.

Ten stars for this? No. A thousand. It's beyond rating. For me, this sits among the highest achievements of cinema. CLEO will live forever.

It's not like I simply love everything that is French. Au contraire! But there is no denying it that French movies from the old days often have something very special about them. Artistic, quiet, beautiful, engaging and for from boring, even though not an awful lot is always happening in it, as is also the case with this movie.

It actually is its simplicity that makes this movie. Everything is very clear about this movie; we know who the main characters is and what she is going through. It's a movie without little complications to its story and instead decides to simply follow its main character and a couple of hours of her life.

Another beautiful thing about this movie is that it's actually about a pretty heavy and serious subject. This movie could had so easily turned into something dramatic and sentimental but it instead feels like a very positive movie. It's a nice spin to the genre and it takes a real pleasant approach, that also helps to make this movie a very engaging one.

This is at least what I got from this movie. As often is the case with these sort of movies, you might get something totally different out of it. It's also obviously being filled with metaphors and symbolism, without this ever becoming too distracting by the way. But because of this storytelling approach, you might interpret things different as I did, so it really still above all things is something you have to experience for yourself.

It's a beautifully shot movie with some great camera-work at times. The movie is deliberately being kept small and simplistic, with both its story and visuals, which all was something director Agnès Varda obviously understood- and handled very well. It's a subtly done film, that perhaps requires multiple viewing to fully get everything out of it.

Nicely done genre film with a great approach to it.

8/10

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To me, this is a movie about looking on the bright side of life... from the point of view of someone who isn't. We follow Cleo, a beautiful singer, through a day of her life (from 5:00 to 7:00) as she waits to find out if she has cancer. It's a very simple plot, and I think this simplicity is what allows the film to show Cleo's inner turmoil so well. This movie has strong existential undertones. In the beginning of the film, Cleo believes her fate is just that: fate. She is superstitious to the point of paranoia. Through the course of the film, she discovers that she is in control of her own life, and even in something that seems out of her control -- like cancer -- she has the freedom to decide how she will look at it and whether or not she will let it ruin her life.