
Two hours from 17:00 to 19:00h on the longest day of the year in the life of a young Parisienne is presented. Florence Victoire, who is better known by her stage name Cléo Victoire (as in Cleopatra), is a singer with three hit singles to her name, and as such some renown. Two days ago, she went in for some tests for abdominal issues to see if it is cancer. She will be getting the results today at 18:30h. She is certain that it will be a terminal cancer diagnosis, her mind fi... (Full plot summary below)
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Two hours from 17:00 to 19:00h on the longest day of the year in the life of a young Parisienne is presented. Florence Victoire, who is better known by her stage name Cléo Victoire (as in Cleopatra), is a singer with three hit singles to her name, and as such some renown. Two days ago, she went in for some tests for abdominal issues to see if it is cancer. She will be getting the results today at 18:30h. She is certain that it will be a terminal cancer diagnosis, her mind fixated on that outcome and what it actually means. This belief affects how she approaches the day, from her encounters with friends and acquaintances to what she observes in total strangers around her. It could be as simple as how she views the lyrics to new songs presented to her from her songwriting team, to her feelings about a conversation she overhears in a café between a couple having relationship problems, to the typical sweet nothings spoken to her from her lover, José. There are certain things that do temporarily take her mind off of waiting for the test results, but something will always bring her back to that as the issue of her day. It isn't until just before she is ready to call the doctor that she may get a different perspective of the day and thus her life in a chance meeting with a stranger named Antoine, a French soldier at the very end of a three week leave from the Algerian War.
Leave your thoughts about Cléo from 5 to 7.
| The TelegraphTim RobeyAn almost literal slice of life, as its title suggests, Cléo allows Varda to illustrate beautifully the lost world surrounding those too stuck in their own heads—and, more pointedly, too caught up in the role-playing expected of women. |
| Slant MagazineEric HendersonVarda captures the fairy-tale essence of early-’60s Paris with a vivacity and richness that rivals Godard’s Breathless. |
| Little White LiesAdam ScovellThe film is not only an enjoyably unique exploration of coming to terms with illness and mortality but a snapshot of the French capital circa 1962, and even its cinematic culture. |
| LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenThe movie stands apart from the French New Wave in that it is very much the story of a woman, not about a woman. |
| The New YorkerRichard BrodyIn fusing Cleo’s intricate consciousness with the teeming vitality of city life and the fine grain of daily activity, Varda displays her vast artistic inspiration and expands the power of the cinema itself. |
| EmpireDavid ParkinsonOne of the Nouvelle Vague's boldest achievements. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertReleased in 1962, it seems as innovative and influential as any New Wave film. |
| The New YorkerPauline KaelCleo from 5 to 7, acclaimed in France as "the most beautiful film ever made about Paris," is a curiously, spuriously brilliant attempt to contemporize the legend of Death and the Maiden. |
| Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumUnderrated when it came out and unjustly neglected since, it’s not only the major French New Wave film made by a woman, but a key work of that exciting period—moving, lyrical, and mysterious. |
| Time OutWally HammondQuietly touching and profound, it epitomises the youthful delight Varda always shows for the tools at her disposal and her sensitive and easeful way of expressing the sways and shifts of life, love and desire. |