ejamessnyder Cleo from 5 to 7 is a film about a young woman who is nervously awaiting the results of a medical test. She fears the worst, and we see her as she wanders the streets of Paris meeting friends and strangers, seeking distraction and consolation. The story is told in real time and I loved the idea of it when I heard about it. But I also loved the idea of Richard Linklater's 2014 film Boyhood—which I eagerly anticipated for years while it was in production—but found the end product to be a bit deficient. So would Cleo from 5 to 7 live up to my expectations?The film started out a bit slow in my opinion. I felt like I didn't really care enough about the lead character or what she was going through and found myself bored by several of the early scenes. But a funny thing happened as the film went on: I started to care! Halfway into the film I was totally enthralled. It was fascinating to watch her mood change from dread to acceptance and then back again as she met with different people and discussed her situation and saw different things and encountered different distractions throughout Paris.Additionally, there were several fun things that the filmmakers did with the camera and the editing that I don't recall ever having seen before. There were a few instances of jump cuts that I particularly enjoyed but there was also a very well-done scene in which Cleo is walking up the sidewalk, looking at strangers and recalling in her mind the faces of friends. It was edited very well and pleasing to the eye but also did a great job of showing Cleo's thoughts and emotions without the use of narration, which would not have been sufficient.The film feels very real, in a way. The narrative follows Cleo to the places she chooses to go, rather than following a standard cookie-cutter story. She could very easily have chosen a different path through Paris, or stayed at home, but this is where she went and that is where we follow her. And all the characters she meets feel totally unique and very much like real people. At times it feels as if we could be following a real woman through Paris, unaware that she's being filmed or followed.It reminded me a bit of Chris Marker's documentary film Le Joli Mai, which was filmed around the same locations at about the same time. That film was real, in that it was a documentary. This film feels almost as real. The acting seems excellent, but I'm not fluent in French so it may be a little harder for me to tell when the acting is bad or not. But that's what I love about foreign films: the acting always seems a little better than it probably is!I feel like this movie warrants an additional viewing for a few reasons. Firstly, I feel like I will be able to better appreciate the parts I thought were a little slow or boring during the first viewing. Either that, or I'll confirm my earlier assessment that they were in fact slow and boring and nothing can change that, though I doubt that is the case. Secondly, knowing how things end, I think I could gain some additional insight that I may have missed the first time around during the early scenes, in particular during the opening scene which involves an impactful tarot card reading.So, by the time it ended, Cleo from 5 to 7 had indeed lived up to my hopes and dreams. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but I enjoyed it very much and think that I will watch it again. I'd previously seen Vagabond, another of the director Agnès Varda's films. While I enjoyed that film, it didn't give me the same feeling that I got from Cleo from 5 to 7, which makes me want to see more of her work. Right now I get the feeling that she may end up becoming one of my favorite French filmmakers.It's not a perfect movie, but it's better than the majority of films I see, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys powerful, emotional dramas or French films in general.

chaos-rampant I took a walk after seeing this and felt cleansed like always after a great film, the night fresh. More so than womanhood or death, this is about having lived a life. She believes she's dying from cancer as the film begins, but of course we have to wait until the end to get the hospital results.The Tarot cards of the opening are an entry; artifice, images in place of the real thing, and yet the old woman is spontaneous enough (or contriving) to improvise a story they supposedly tell, some of it vaguely correct, some not, but a story that just so happens to hit on the problem of her suffering and unlock personal truth.The problem is desire, something we think is wrong with life. The filmmaker unveils in the early stages a marvelous space of desire, as poignant as any of Resnais' spaces on memory (the other debilitating facet of mind); the girl in a precious hat shop, safe on this side of the shop glass, gliding among and admiring trinkets we have come up with to dress life, make it more beautiful than it is. Yet of course life has an ugliness we can't dress, but that's not out there, no hat will fix it. It's the constant vexation with things not being just perfect (which is desire for them to be other than they are), a lover who is not always there, a piano player who doesn't fawn over her singing talent. It's not just her of course, at a cafe we hear people complaining about all sorts of things.What underpins this is ego, that self who must be at the center of things, the filmmaker playfully sketches this in a rehearsal scene, where as she sings, with a small pan of the camera we find her singing directly to us as if center stage for an imaginary audience, the center of attention.But there's also, along the way, a bubbly friend who is open enough about things to pose naked for a sculpting class. Another marvelous image here, a naked body which does not have to overthink its place in the room, which can freely let others take away a glimpse that they can chisel into shape, something she can give of her that she doesn't lose.It's all about the view we bring to life, the air of realization through which we see, the appearances we cultivate. This is beautifully rendered in a film-within the two girls see, a silent where a man throws away his dark glasses that obscured the way things really were to find his girl alive and well, she had just tripped, no one died. It's this easy.But how can it be easy when she's dying? The film doesn't clearly reveal, the doctor's unworried look can mean either of the two things. But of course that day will come just the same, it could be months or decades away. What's left then? Having lived a day just like this, having taken walks like these with a soldier in the park, bus rides like these through the first day of summer.This is beautiful stuff, more simple but as deep about the life of appearances and consciousness as Hiroshima mon amour. It reminds me of the cheeky Buddhist saying that explains how there has never been anything wrong from the start.Something to meditate upon.

jrmontalvo3 This remarkable feature typifies all that was good in French film-making during its celebrated New Wave. Writer/director Agnès Varda (one of the unsung stalwarts of the period) constantly introduces the unexpected into both the central story and its many diversions, cinematographer Jean Rabier's images of Paris are fresh and uncomplicated, and the performances are cleverly stylised. Beneath her cool exterior, Corinne Marchand as Cleo manages to convey a range of emotions, whether worrying about her medical tests, chatting with strangers or singing with Michel Legrand. Watch out for a film within the film, featuring Jean-Luc Godard and other New Wave luminaries.

cking-37-372041 Agnes Varda's masterpiece Cleo from 5 to 7 is a lovely film that captures the essence of life. This film is shot to capture real time of the main character Cleo, a famous singer struggling with the news that she might have terminal cancer. The film begins with Cleo being told her fortune. She continues to be appalled by the cards she is dealt. When she leaves the fortune tellers residence the scenes soar with uncontrollable emotion. Varda further captures the rawness of Cleo's fate as she films Cleo walking down the steps in a somber trance. Cleo then meets her maid/ assistant, Angele at a restaurant and continues to pout about the agony of having terminal cancer. Surprisingly, Angele is not as friendly as one would expect her to be considering she is on Cleo's payroll. Angele continues to order Cleo around as if she were a child making Cleo's character weak and pitiful throughout the film. Midway through the film Cleo becomes fed up with Angele and her musician friends. She storms out of the rehearsal wearing a fitted black dress in all natural vibe. I felt this was the turning point in the movie where she quits feeling sorry for herself, and sets out on a voyage to see life as Florence and not her show business character Cleo. Varda does wonders capturing the close ups and essence of Cleo's life while waiting for the news from her doctor. Varda's directing allows the audience to become a part of the movie. I started to think what would I do if I had terminal cancer, how would I act. I also enjoyed the props and simplicity of this film. It was easy to follow, and although it was in black and white I found it more dramatic then I would if it were in color. In addition, the waiting made this film very suspenseful and captivating for the viewer. Overall, I would recommend this film to anyone.