Cleo From 5 To 7 - Cleo’s Rebirth

The golden girl, Cleo, in this frame from Cleo From 5 To 7, directed by French filmmaker Agnès Varda, is in fact quite far from golden. On the surface, she swings alongside her maid, Angèle, who rocks back and forth as they both discuss the insensitivity of Cleo’s supposed lover. However, a deeper inspection demonstrates multiple symbolic elements that contrast one another to portray our heroine who has lost touch with her world and nearly faces resignation. Cleo is placed almost symmetrically in the frame and notably, the placement of the camera has her positioned in front of what appear to be wings of some sort. In fact, the wings, her blonde hair, and her white robe betray that Cleo is indeed, a metaphorical angel, contrasted with the dark visuals positioned around her (black cat, black rocking chair, hell — even Cleo’s maid is wearing mostly black and has black hair). The surrounding visuals illustrate that no matter how hard Cleo tries to forget about her coming death, she is in reality, surrounded by black, by death. But as an “angel,” is she the angel that the audience wants her to be: the sexual, teasing, beautiful blonde that Hollywood can promise? And more importantly, is she the angel that she wants to be? Throughout the film, Cleo is an angel preoccupied with her own imminent death and the realization of her impending doom has forced her to make many changes in her life regarding the way she approaches it as a whole. Just as in the frame, Cleo’s maid remains beside her throughout much of the film as a character who comforts and seems to understand what Cleo is going through. Varda portrays Cleo as a character who is reborn during the film, who discovers that in fact, she is dissatisfied with her status as a sex symbol and seeks freedom from such labels.