Cléo from 5 to 7

“Cléo from 5 to 7,” created by French director Agnès Varda in 1962, is not only an important work of the French New Wave movement but also a milestone in feminist cinema history. Using a unique real-time filming approach, the film depicts the psychological journey of a young singer, Cléo, as she awaits cancer diagnosis results over two hours, profoundly exploring themes of female identity, bodily anxiety, self-perception, and existential meaning.

The film’s narrative structure is highly innovative. Varda employs an almost real-time shooting method, with the film’s 90 minutes roughly corresponding to the two hours in the story (from 5 to 7 PM). This temporal treatment creates a sense of urgency and authenticity, with the audience experiencing every minute of anxiety and waiting alongside Cléo. Varda breaks from traditional film narrative rhythms, using fragmented scenes, temporal jumps, and self-reflexive techniques to present the complex inner world of a woman.

The characterization of Cléo reflects Varda’s profound insight into female identity. At the beginning of the film, Cléo is a commodified female image—she is a pop singer, an object of male desire, a symbol of fashion and beauty. She is obsessed with her appearance, constantly checking mirrors to confirm her attractiveness, as if her value depends entirely on others’ gaze. However, as the waiting time progresses, this superficial self begins to dissolve. The shadow of death threats forces Cléo to confront her true self and begin questioning the social roles she has always played.

The theme of “the gaze” in the film is an important subject for feminist film criticism. Varda skillfully uses camera perspective to show how women are constructed by the male gaze and how they attempt to resist it. The film contains numerous scenes of Cléo looking in mirrors—these mirrors are both tools for self-confirmation and prisons of self-imprisonment. When Cléo walks on the street, she feels the gaze of passersby; this experience of being watched is both what she is accustomed to and what she gradually begins to question. Through this approach, Varda reveals the continuous state of being watched that women experience in daily life.

The second half of the film marks Cléo’s awakening and transformation. When she meets the young soldier Antoine, she begins to escape the object position of being gazed upon and becomes an active viewer and agent. Unlike other male characters, Antoine does not commodify Cléo but genuinely listens to and understands her. In their conversation, Cléo can express real fear and vulnerability for the first time without needing to maintain the performance of the “beautiful singer.” Through this relationship, Varda explores the possibility of equal, authentic heterosexual relationships.

Varda’s presentation of Parisian urban space is also significant. Cléo’s wanderings through the city—from café to hat shop, from park to hospital—are not merely physical movements but explorations of psychological space. The city is both where Cléo feels lonely and alienated and where she ultimately finds connection and meaning. Varda captures the unique atmosphere of 1960s Paris while also gendering urban space, showing how women navigate public space, are watched, and ultimately find their place.

The film’s musical elements are equally noteworthy. As a singer, Cléo’s world is filled with music—from her practice at the piano to street performers, from pop songs on the radio to Michel Legrand’s score. Music is both Cléo’s means of escaping reality and her channel for expressing emotion. Varda skillfully uses music to reflect Cléo’s psychological state, from the light melodies at the beginning to the contemplative tones at the end, making music an important component of the narrative.

“Cléo from 5 to 7” has had a profound influence on subsequent feminist cinema. As one of the few female New Wave directors, Varda paved the way for later women filmmakers. She proved that women directors can tell women’s stories with unique perspectives and techniques, can challenge mainstream cinema’s gender assumptions, and can treat women’s inner worlds as serious artistic subjects. The film’s exploration of female subjectivity, critique of the politics of the gaze, and attention to women’s bodily experience all became important themes in later feminist cinema.

From a contemporary perspective, some aspects of the film may seem dated—such as the emphasis on beauty and fashion, the reliance on heterosexual romantic relationships. However, the film’s core concerns—how women find themselves in patriarchal society, how they maintain subjectivity under the pressure of commodification, how they face bodily anxiety and fear of death—remain important issues in contemporary feminism. Varda’s film language—its innovation, poetic quality, and political nature—continues to inspire film creators today.

Varda’s legacy lies in her demonstration of how cinema can become a tool for women’s self-expression and self-exploration. “Cléo from 5 to 7” is not only a film about women but a film created by a woman, from a woman’s perspective, speaking for female audiences. In this sense, it transcends its era, continuing to provide inspiration and resources for all creators seeking to understand and express women’s experience.