Agnès Varda’s 1962 film “Cléo from 5 to 7”, one of the most important films of the French New Wave, made a huge jump in the Sight and Sound rankings: The 2012 results show it tied for 202nd place, while the poll of 2022 is in 14th place. This boost could partly be attributed to the expanded pool of critics making more of an effort to include films directed by women, but that alone would not explain the meteoric rise in critical acclaim.
Varda enjoyed a wave of recognition late in her career, winning an honorary Oscar in 2018 at the age of 89, the same year she was also nomination in the category of best documentary for “Faces Places”. Her death a year later inspired widespread mourning in the film community. Martin Scorsese called Varda “one of the gods” of the art form (via The Hollywood Reporter).
“Cléo from 5 to 7” is a drama told in real time over 90 minutes (arguably the film must is titled “Cléo from 5 to 6:30” but that doesn’t have the same ring). It follows a singer, Cléo Victoire (played by Corinne Marchand), who is awaiting the results of a cancer test. Beautifully filmed, psychologically insightful, and utterly compelling, it deserves to be on this list.
“Cléo from 5 to 7” currently airs on HBO Max, the Criterion Channel and Kanopy.
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