Cleo from 5 to 7 (DCP)

(Cléo de 5 à 7, Agnès Varda, France/Italy 1962, 90 min., DCP, French with English subtitles)

Unfolding almost in real time, this masterpiece from the “godmother” of the French nouvelle vague, and one of cinema’s greatest innovators follows a young woman in the liminal space between vitality and mortality. Cleo (the wonderful Corinne Marchand) is waiting for a test result that may determine her future. In the interim she visits a psychic, buys a new hat, fights with her boyfriend, conducts a rehearsal, and watches a film, all while talking to friends and acquaintances, none of whom can allay her fears. Simply by documenting these actions, Varda empathetically captures Cleo’s anxiety, and creates one of her most memorable cinematic achievements.