DVD Mini Review - Cleo from 5 to 7

I had the opportunity to watch Agnes Varda's fine film Cleo from 5 to 7. The story is a simple one. The film follows the life of Cleo (Corrine Marchand) - her real name is Florence - for a few hours. Cleo is a famous singer. But today her mind is on other things and not music.

Cleo is waiting for the results of a biopsy for cancer. She is convinced that she is dying. A her visit to a tarot reader confirms her suspicions. We don't get too many details about the illness. Her assistant Angele (Dominique Davras) tries to get her mind off of it. Her musician friends and others try to entertain her and play music for her. But this doesn't work. At some point she takes off on her own and even takes off her wig and starts refer to herself as Florence. Things change when she meets Antoine (Antoine Bourseiller). He is about to depart for Algeria. Florence gets a revelation about life. She even gets up the courage to go to the hospital to see the doctor for her results.

That is it in a nutshell. Cleo is very well shot. I liked the way it went for color to black and white at the beginning. And I enjoyed all of the Paris street life that we get to see. All of the acting is very good and Marchand is wonderful. You really feel for her and wonder how you would be in her shoes.

I highly recommend this film to those of you who want to see vintage world cinema.