Dorothée Blanck

This short film is both a whimsical celebration of sensual love and an affectionate portrait of a Paris street. By juxtaposing shots of faces and shop windows with images of an embracing couple, Agnès Varda builds a tender contrast between a personal romance and the collective life of the quarter.

Varda’s sublime masterpiece of the French New Wave brought a much-needed woman’s perspective to the streets of Paris, too often shot from a man’s point-of-view. With cameos from Anna Karina & Jean-Luc Godard, Varda deftly chronicles, with vérité flourishes, Cléo’s mobility and intense subjectivity.

Exotic dancer Angela attempts to have a child with her unwilling lover Emile. But Alfred, Emile’s best friend who is in love with Angela, is happy to be a father. Angela loves Emile and refuses Alfred’s advances, but leads Emile to believe that she is infatuated with his friend.