Cléo from 5 to 7 (French: Cléo de 5 à 7) (1962)
Director: Agnès Varda
Watched: 3/8/18
Rating: 4/5 stars
Slice of life New Wave,
Tarot cards filmed in color,
Magic, myth, and spells,
Then two hours of real life,
But in black and white.
We follow spoiled Cleo,
On real Paris streets.
As she meets her friend and maid,
Finds a nice new hat,
Practices her notes and songs,
Sees her kind boyfriend,
Free-spirited Dorothee,
Who imbues logic
Into her superstitions.
Director Varda
Smartly adds great silent short,
Famous cameos,
Godard, Karina, Frey, more.
Like Godard in short,
Cleo removes sunglasses
When she meets Antoine.
She grows up, no longer scared
Despite cancer’s threat.
With existentialist theme,
From fate to power,
From paranoid to content,
Undramatic film
That is not unexciting.
Unpretentious art
That unveils beauty slowly,
Deftly winning us over.