Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) by Agnes Varda is a masterful film that came out at the pinnacle of the French New Wave movement. Varda makes this her second feature film detailing the afternoon of Cleo; a young famous Pop Star from Paris that after a Tarot card lecture finds out she’s ill and will possibly die. The film follows her canonical afternoon in real time after receiving the news.
Agnes Varda thrives through those two hours thanks to the wonderful performance from Corinne Marchand, the magnificent incorporation of the soundtrack, and the esoteric editing techniques that are felt within the French Movement. However, what makes this movie one of a kind lies behind the collaboration between Agnes and the Cinematography team, where in a mixture of her photography experienced past and the fundaments of cinematography the French Filmmaker tells many tales and metaphors through her camera techniques and Production Design’s mise-en- scéne surrounding Cleo’s world.
From the start of the movie Varda makes it clear to the audience that the camera acts as character itself, or at least a prominent voice to the narrative with its constant movements. The movement of the camera is not always motivated by the movement of the character which is aggressive for the viewer and unusual outside the French New Wave. The camera is an observer, an omnipotent eye that follows Cleo everywhere she goes. Agnes emphasizes this with her constant use of long- shots that follow and detail Cleo’s environment.
The following scene takes place from 42:44 to 44:57. We follow Cleo as she leaves her house fuming after the meeting with her producer/managers which acts as a wake-up call to her vanity.
The scene is well light, with high-key harsh lighting, detailed with the characteristic low- contrast monochrome used in the French Movement. We follow Cleo exiting her home, closing the door on us, as if she could leave the glares behind. The camera pans on every movement she does, following her as she exits, and showcasing her home environment with a high-angle long- shot. The camera persists on a smooth tracking that leads us to the door. We then track her walking through the side-walk as she’s followed by her shadow, giving away the key coming from her right. She’s unbothered by her surroundings, ignoring the pigeon flock that takes flight in-front of her, yet the pharmacy’s advertising “Good Health” catches her attention; which is quickly diverted by the mirror in-front of her. The quick whip helps us understand her priorities. We then dolly-in smoothly with her as she examines herself in the mirror, obstructed by advertising, that then causes her to reflect deeply about her vanity, but she’s once again diverted as she looks deeper into the mirror and sees the street spectacle happening behind her which motivates the tracking of her joining the show.
We straight cut from the whip into a Medium-Long-Shot of her as part of the audience. We then jump between herself in the audience to the multiple POV’s of her observing the eye-catching spectacle of the man swallowing frogs, which acts as a detonator to her focus. We also see Medium Shots of the audience focused on the spectacle, and not in Cleo itself. The Close-Ups detail the focus of what she’s looking at. Nevertheless she leaves and we leave with her on a Wide-Crane-Shot that smoothly tracks her walking out from the scene.
From the moment she leaves, she’s looked at, again; nevertheless, she remains unbothered. We cut to an Overhead-Crane-Shot that shows her passing by a flower shop unnoticed. However, personal interpretation indicates the flourishing of a new perspective for Cleo as the next shot pans to a clock marking 17:45pm establishing the beginning of the falling action of the movie, and asserting the audience she’s getting closer to resolution.
Agnes Varda, uses cinematographic techniques that masterfully tell a story and handful of profound metaphors through conventional, simplistic approaches that are all choices, camera placement, composition and movement, that allow us to see the importance and the effect behind these simple yet overlooked techniques and the power beneath them. Bravo.
Written by Tonino
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