CLÉO DE 5 À 7

Weinige films illustreren het idee van ‘transitie’ zo treffend als Cléo de 5 à 7. En nu de corona-impasse stilaan voorbij lijkt te zijn, biedt Agnès Varda’s doorbraakfilm interessante perspectieven. Cléo de 5 à 7 brengt in real time het verhaal van de jonge zangeres Cléo in beeld, die in spanning het resultaat afwacht van een medisch onderzoek dat moet uitwijzen of ze al dan niet ernstig ziek is. Criticus Roger Ebert heeft Varda, net zoals velen, ‘the godmother of the French New Wave’ genoemd, maar hij stapte daarvan af: “Varda is its very soul, and only the fact that she is a woman, I fear, prevented her from being routinely included with Godard, Truffaut, Resnais, Chabrol, Rivette, Rohmer and for that matter her husband Jacques Demy. The passage of time has been kinder to her films than some of theirs, and Cléo from 5 to 7 plays today as startlingly modern.” Met een lezing van filmhistoricus Wouter Hessels om 19:00.

 

‘For here is a film that truly flows. The camera darts around with Cleo on her restless way through the city- its streets, cafes and other niches. We see as she sees, hear as she hears. When she takes a taxi, the camera glances around through her eyes, snatches of scenery shoot past, and at the end of the ride the viewer is left feeling that he has shared it with her. As the film progresses, we begin to penetrate the doll-like façade: Cleo and the camera with her, tries to escape from a lifetime of fears. The camera records Cleo’s impressions of her environment, expresses her moods. And as Cleo matures in those few frantic  hours, the story develops along with her.’

Stanley Paley in: Popular Photography, January 1963, p. 93

Lees meer: 

Cléo de 5 à 7 in Sabzian