1/12/2007

Cleo From 5 to 7

Director: Agnes Varda
(1961)

This gorgeously photographed film from grandmother of the French New Wave, Agnes Varda, depicts two hours in the life of a beautiful, young singer who is awaiting the results from a medical test that will reveal whether or not she has cancer. Influential and groundbreaking, the visual style is arresting and the lovely femininity of the picture stands out, as do the songs from Michel Legrand, whom along with Anna Karina and Jean-Luc Godard makes cameos in the film. According to Varda, “one isn’t born a woman, one becomes one,” and this delicate wonder of a film advertises its gender proudly in every frame.