One of the most striking features of the modernist movement is the focus on the development and experimentation of production and distribution compared to the presentation of the piece of work. Cinema in Europe is suffering from an economic crisis, which results in some uniquely produced notable films.
Upon observing Cleo from 5 to 7 closely, we can see many long takes, lesser, more indistinct cuts in the film, which one could attribute to the need to limit the number of reels used in the process. There are also very few dynamic movements of the camera, and when there are, they are used to establish a particular perspective. An example of this would be the scene when Cleo was walking down the street to meet her sculptor friend. On the other hand, Cleo's brief monologue as she roams around the room talking to Angele and then the musicians coming into her room is possibly one of the longest takes in the film where the camera does not make any cuts to avoid the blurs that come with a consistent dynamic camera movement. In fact, Agnes Varda embraces the blurs and creates a jarring and interesting scene where the audience is forced to keep up with the camera's fast and disjointed pace, a blatant reflection of Cleo's turmoil.
This brings in another striking feature of modernist films, which is the montage. The montage is a series of shots put together to condense time, space, and information. This particular film shows the period of 5 pm to 7 pm over a 90 min film length. Although the time is more or less the same, there is also a fast pace to build tension with the viewers to keep up with the tension Cleo is trying to portray. This is where the use of montage comes in to reduce the different aspects of time, space, and information within Cleo's journey.
These montages, however, are not simple and as blatant as how it usually is in films. Although this film establishes a relentless first-person narrative more than once, there is a unique blend of the subject and the surroundings. The streets, cafes, taxis, and the people are as real as they appear in the film and how they would appear from the eyes of a woman traveling around Paris by herself. I think there is something to note in the way Varda makes everything about Cleo striking and adds nothing to her surroundings. It shows how Cleo and not her surroundings shape the world that has been created because the Paris we see will remain as it is once Cleo leaves it, but Cleo and her turmoil of feelings bring the story to Paris.
A defining factor of modernism, particularly the French new wave that can be observed in this film, would be the element of playfulness. Cleo, in all her vanity, displays a playful and gripping relationship with the story as well as the camera. This again reinforces an essential element of modernism by rejecting the traditional film trajectories and introducing the auteur concept. We see a clear reflection of the fact that Varda is a woman and a photographer in how the film and the story within it are carried out. She allows Cleo to flit around the room, the camera following each of her movements, creating the playfulness without breaking the fourth wall.
The primary reason this film is so refreshing is that it does not cater to the male gaze. There is instead a display of the male gaze on the subject of the film. Since many of the scenes are shot in the first-person perspective, the audience, in fact, finds themselves under the scrutiny of the male and public gaze.
Lastly, the film did not shy away from using the critical self-reflection element of modernism to make certain remarks on the political atmosphere and the issues taking place when it was made and released. This ties in nicely with the rise of existentialism taking place in France. First, we experience the more personal form of existentialism where Cleo struggles with her existence, as vain as she may be, and the impending doom that will befall her morality, making her more aware of her life in the face of death. The film also mentions, upon several instances, the Algerian war of independence and brings up how people are dying without any purpose, bringing in the existential philosophy but now on the larger scale.
In these ways, Cleo from 5 to 7 uses multiple modernist techniques to create a new form of cinema and bring to light many different themes in an engaging manner.
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