At one point I thought this would become one of my favorite movies of all time. It's up there but not quite. To me this film is all about gut feeling. Unspoken but clearly senseable. Like a reflection of your deepest desires and weaknesses. Spiraling down to the gutter in one moment as you crawl into your own shell but up in the next as you find the missing piece and let yourself take over any fear or insecurity you have. Cleo is such a powerful character in every way. Her youthful self-centeredness and vanity shines brightly from Corinne Marchand's stunning appearance. Momentarily pausing to laugh with her friend as the beauty of the moment surmounts the negativity around her but always collapsing into despair, hiding herself behind sunglasses and fur hats. Obsessive perceptions and stereotypes of other people lead to her feeling inadequate and detached until she finds a similar soul to connect with.

Varda’s direction is absurdly good. She brings every inch of nuance to the character by shooting Paris as realistically as possible. It might be the best usage of real people I’ve seen - the way she exploits the people looking at the camera and Corinne to serve the story is something else. Mirror shots, long takes, brilliant pans, the list goes on and on. None of this is done haphazardly or without a reason. It creates a kind of comforting atmosphere thanks to its free flowing and real-time structure but Varda brilliantly utilises obscure edits and off-putting scenes that break the relaxing feeling and guide your attention to the serious issues at hand. First Varda film and off to an other wordly start.

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