Cléo from 5 to 7
A French New Wave film following a singer awaiting biopsy results.
Rogers, R. W. [from old catalog] · Public domain
In Agnès Varda’s 1962 French New Wave drama, the camera follows singer Florence—known onstage as Cléo Victoire—through ninety minutes of a single June evening. From 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., she waits for biopsy results that may reveal stomach cancer. Corinne Marchand plays Cléo; the supporting cast includes Antoine Bourseiller, Dominique Davray, and Dorothée Blank. Composer Michel Legrand, who wrote the score, also appears as Bob, a pianist. The film screened at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival. The story begins with a tarot reading. The fortune teller warns of illness and change, and mentions a talkative young man, but insists the Death card signals transformation, not literal death. When the woman then refuses to read Cléo’s palm, Cléo grows distraught, taking this as confirmation her biopsy will be positive. At a café, Cléo’s assistant Angèle fails to calm her. The café owner gives her a free coffee after hearing her troubles. They go hat shopping; Cléo buys a black fur hat despite Angèle’s objection that it’s unsuitable for summer. Angèle warns it’s bad luck to wear or carry something new on a Tuesday, so they have it sent. In a taxi, one of Cléo’s songs plays on the radio, and they discuss the dangers of the driver’s job and news of the Algerian War. At home, Angèle gives Cléo a hot water bottle. Cléo’s lover José, a busy older businessman, visits but dismisses her fears and leaves quickly. Cléo tells Angèle she’s considering ending the relationship. Bob and lyricist Maurice arrive to rehearse. When Angèle mentions Cléo’s illness, the men pretend to be doctors to cheer her up. Lighthearted songs lift her spirits briefly, but a dramatic ballad, “Sans toi,” agitates her again. She changes into a black dress and leaves alone. At Le Dôme Café, Cléo plays one of her songs on the jukebox, but no one notices. She visits her friend Dorothée, who is modelling nude for sculptors. After the class, they pick up a package for Dorothée’s boyfriend Raoul, a projectionist, and bring it to the cinema where he works. Raoul invites them to watch a short silent comedy from the projection booth, saying a laugh is good for any illness. The film shows a man who thinks his fiancée has died, only to realize his sunglasses made everything look black; the scene repeats in a lighter tone. Leaving, Dorothée drops her purse and breaks a hand mirror, which Cléo takes as a bad omen. Outside Le Dôme, a crowd has gathered; a man has been killed. In a taxi, Dorothée insists the broken mirror was for that man, not Cléo. Cléo drops Dorothée at another modelling job and, because the day is beautiful, walks to Parc Montsouris. By the waterfall, a gentle soldier named Antoine—on his last day of leave from the Algerian War and full of facts—approaches her. He notes it’s the longest day of the year. They bond over their shared fear of dying. Antoine encourages Cléo to go to the hospital in person rather than call, and offers to accompany her; she can see him off at the train station afterward. On the way to a bus stop, Cléo tells Antoine her real name is Florence, which he says he prefers. Antoine distracts her with conversation, but she grows pensive as they near the hospital. She is upset to learn her doctor has already left, but calms down walking in the hospital garden. They sit on a bench and discuss where to eat before Antoine’s train. Suddenly, the doctor drives by and stops. He casually tells Cléo she will be fine after two months of chemotherapy and to see him in the morning. Antoine says he is sorry to leave, as he would like to be with her. Cléo replies that he is with her now, and that her fear is gone; she is happy. They walk on in silence, occasionally glancing at each other, then stop and stare into each other’s eyes. Producer Georges de Beauregard appears as the driver of both the hearse and the ambulance in the full version of *Les fiancés du pont MacDonald*, a silent short directed by Varda that Cléo watches at the cinema. Those shots were removed when the short was edited for inclusion in *Cléo from 5 to 7*. The short’s cast includes Jean-Luc Godard, Anna Karina, Eddie Constantine, Sami Frey, and Jean-Claude Brialy. On Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 54 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.7/10.
- Director
- Agnès Varda
- Country
- France
- Genre
- French New Wave drama
- Runtime
- 90 minutes (5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.)
- Lead actress
- Corinne Marchand
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
The film opens with Cléo at a tarot card reading, where the fortune teller says there is illness and change in her future, as well as a meeting with a talkative young man, but insists that the Death card just indicates a profound transformation. When the woman acts as though she cannot read palms after looking at Cléo's hand, Cléo becomes distraught, taking the reading as confirmation that the results of her biopsy will come back positive for stomach cancer that evening. She walks to a café, where her assistant, Angèle, is waiting. They go hat shopping, and Cléo buys a black fur hat, despite Angèle telling her that it is unsuitable for summer weather. At Cléo's flat, her lover José, a busy older businessman, dismisses her fears. Bob and lyricist Maurice arrive to rehearse; a dramatic ballad titled "Sans toi" makes Cléo agitated. She leaves, wanders to Le Dôme Café, and plays one of her songs on the jukebox, but no one pays it any attention. She visits her friend Dorothée, who is modelling nude for a class of sculptors. They watch a silent short film, *Les fiancés du pont MacDonald*, directed by Varda, featuring a cast composed of several New Wave figures, among them Jean-Luc Godard, Anna Karina, Eddie Constantine, Sami Frey, and Jean-Claude Brialy. Later, in Parc Montsouris, a gentle soldier named Antoine, on the last day of his leave from the Algerian War, approaches Cléo. They bond over their mutual fear of dying. Antoine encourages Cléo to go to the hospital to get her results in person, saying he will accompany her. On the way, Cléo tells Antoine that her real name is Florence, which he says he prefers. At the hospital, her doctor drives by and casually tells Cléo that she will be alright after two months of chemotherapy. Antoine says he is sorry he has to leave, and Cléo responds that she thinks her fear is gone and she is happy. They walk on in silence, occasionally glancing at each other, and then stop and stare into each other's eyes.
Reader's Guide
Cléo from 5 to 7 is a landmark of the French New Wave, notable for its real-time structure—following Cléo over ninety minutes from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on June 21. The film features a cameo by composer Michel Legrand as Bob, and includes a silent short film directed by Varda, *Les fiancés du pont MacDonald*, which features cameos from Jean-Luc Godard, Anna Karina, Eddie Constantine, Sami Frey, and Jean-Claude Brialy. Producer Georges de Beauregard appears as the driver of both the hearse and the ambulance in the full version of the short, but those shots were removed when it was edited for inclusion in *Cléo from 5 to 7*. The film was entered into the 1962 Cannes Film Festival. On Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 54 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.7/10. In the 2022 *Sight & Sound* Critics' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, it reached number 14, making it the third-highest ranking film directed by a woman on the list. In 2019, it was voted the second-greatest film directed by a woman in a BBC poll of 368 film experts from 84 countries.
Did You Know?
- The film takes place over exactly 90 minutes, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on June 21, the longest day of the year.
- Composer Michel Legrand, who wrote the film's score, also appears on screen as Bob, a composer and pianist.
- The silent short film within the movie, *Les fiancés du pont MacDonald*, was directed by Varda and features cameos from Jean-Luc Godard, Anna Karina, and Eddie Constantine.
- Producer Georges de Beauregard appears as the driver of both the hearse and the ambulance in the full version of the short, but those shots were removed for the final film.
- In the 2022 *Sight & Sound* Critics' Poll, the film ranked number 14, making it the third-highest ranking film directed by a woman.
Early Life and the Road to the Stage
Her father, the Austrian judge, lawyer, and tourism pioneer Theodor Christomannos, was estranged from her mother, and Cléo did not meet him until she was a young adult, when they crossed paths at a train station in Merano. The encounter was marked by her characteristic wit: she reportedly told him she hoped he was wealthy, as she was accustomed to luxury. Affectionately known as "Lulu" within the family, she was sent at the age of eight to study dance under the Sisters of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul. By eleven, she had already made her professional debut at the Paris Opéra.
The Chignon and a Fashion Revolution
At sixteen, de Mérode debuted a hairstyle that would become one of the most imitated looks in European fashion history. What she later described as a purely accidental development—pushing back a square fringe that kept falling into her eyes while dancing as a coryphée at the Opéra—gradually evolved into a knotted bun, or chignon, which she further refined with a hidden crown to accommodate the large hats of the era. The style swept through Parisian society almost overnight and spread across the continent. In Sweden, it reportedly nearly triggered a labor strike when female workers were ordered to abandon the look on the job. The very coverage of her ears by the style also spawned persistent rumors that she was missing one or both ears, which she dispelled by simply appearing in public with them exposed. She later reflected that the whole thing was unplanned, a child's practical solution that the world mistook for deliberate artistry.
The "Cléopold" Scandal
Her mother attempted to quell the story by publishing a letter in Le Figaro, but the attempt backfired when the poor spelling became a joke. Two years later, the Baroness gave an interview insisting the affair was "absolutely false," recounting that the King had merely sent a flattering note after seeing her dance at the Grand Opéra and that any meeting had occurred only in her mother's presence. De Mérode herself called the rumors "monstrous lies," emphasizing she had never been alone with the King. When they finally met, he apologized, calling himself "only a little king."
The First Modern Celebrity
De Mérode is widely regarded as the first true celebrity icon and the first modern celebrity, a distinction that rests as much on her image as on her artistry. She became famous for her glamour even more than for her dancing, and her likeness appeared on postcards, playing cards, and other commercial products. She was the first woman whose photographic portrait was distributed on a worldwide scale, thanks in large part to the work of photographers Nadar, his son Paul Nadar, Léopold-Émile Reutlinger, and his son Jean Reutlinger, as well as Charles Ogerau, Henri Manuel, and Otto Sarony. The Belle Époque's greatest artists flocked to paint her: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas, Giovanni Boldini, Alphonse Mucha, and many others captured her in oils, while sculptors Alexandre Falguière, Mariano Benlliure, and Ernst Seger rendered her in three dimensions. A wax mask by Georges Despret survives in Brussels, and an anonymous sculpture stands in the Galerie Tourbillon. Georges Goursat added caricatures in the 1900s.
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