How "Cleo from 5 to 7" Approaches the Concepts of Narrative

 Cleo from 5 to 7 approaches narrative concepts by utilising multiple different techniques, we can use Barthes Narrative Codes and the study of Character Arcs to analyse the narrative structure used by Agnes Varda when producing Cleo from 5 to 7. 

When we take a look into Barthes Narrative Codes, I believe that Cleo follows the hermeneutic code, this means that throughout the narrative there are plot points that are left unclosed. It is up to the audience to create a conclusion for multiple different plot points, most prominently the intrigue of Cleo’s illness, it isn’t made clear on how serious the illness truly is, only by the tarot reader who creates more mysteries than she solves. After reading Cleo’s future, she tells a man that she foresees death in Cleo and throughout the film Cleo is scared of her illness, it seems as though she also believes death could be near, she is waiting to hear from the doctor which as the audience is an amplified experience with the use of real time in the film, we are left waiting to find out for just as long as Cleo is. Throughout the film, it appears from every perspective she is not likely to live a long and happy life, as seen by the tarot reader’s premonitions and Cleo’s own thoughts about her illness, but the line in the film's final few minutes “we have plenty of time” could suggest otherwise. This line could symbolise how Cleo’s true illness was her mental health, and that now she has finally found a man in her life who loves her for who she is, not just for her beauty she is in good health and can now spend all the time together with her new man. Due to the fact that this plot point is left to be developed by the viewers themselves, this leaves the film under Barthes’ Hermeneutic Code as key details of a plot point have been hidden from the viewer and left for interpretation.

One of the most prominent parts of the film’s narrative structure is the fact that Cleo from 5 to 7 takes place almost in real time. It takes place during the same day, the hours 5 to 7 meaning with its 90 minute run time, only 30 minutes of the 2 hour period is cut making it essentially taking place in real time. Despite the film's whole time period only being 2 hours, Cleo’s character arc still has time to flourish and we are given a fleshed out arc by the end of the film. Cleo starts off at almost rock bottom as her ill health is confirmed by the tarot reader, then as the film progresses we can interpret that Cleo is suffering badly with mental health and she wants to be viewed as a real life person with real emotions, not just something to be looked at, she wants her own personality, clashing with the desire of her management team and her songwriters who believe she should tell the world ‘she is nothing without her man’ through the use of song. We see Cleo’s struggle with her image but by the end of the film she has met a man who truly loves her for who she is and we see her 2 main issues nearly resolved at the end of the film. She is finally being viewed as the person she wants to be viewed by and she now feels comfortable with her illness, rather than scared.

One scene which stands out as a key part of the narrative structure is the opening sequence. Cleo from 5 to 7’’s Chapter 1 feels like the closure of part of Cleo’s life. The use of colour in the scene where the rest is black and white makes it seem like life has been drained from Cleo after hearing the tarot readers' readings. This scene can be compared to a film from classical Hollywood, 1939’s The Wizard of Oz starts off in black and white, where Dorothy lives a mundane life, but then when in Oz where everything has more life and excitement moves into colour, the same can be said for Cleo, just reversed. This would make sense seeing as French New Wave filmmakers were inspired by the works of Classical Hollywood.  After the tarot reader confirms Cleo’s worst fears that she is seriously ill, all hope is drained from cleo and everything she hates about her life is highlighted throughout from chapter 2 onwards, this makes chapter 1 feel like a different section of cleo’s life and the way the film has been shot highlights how Cleo is feeling.

In Conclusion, I believe that Cleo from 5 to 7 utilises multiple different techniques in order to display narrative concepts. These features become more prominent when we research into Barthes Narrative Codes and Character Arcs, also by knowing some context from the French New Wave era we can determine who Agnes Varda could have drawn inspiration from and how she utilises these inspired features to her advantage.