Feminism in Agnès Varda's Cléo de 5 à 7
Agnès Varda's 1962 film Cléo from 5 to 7 stands as a landmark achievement in French New Wave cinema and feminist film history. This analysis examines one pivotal sequence—the « taxi scene »—to explore its rich archival and feminist dimensions. The scene operates as a temporal capsule, crystallizing the social and cultural tensions of the 1960s, particularly those surrounding women's evolving roles and their struggle for independence.
Context: new wave cinema and second-wave feminism
The 1960s witnessed profound cultural transformations, marked by the simultaneous emergence of the French New Wave in cinema and the rise of second-wave feminism. These movements converged both chronologically and thematically, each challenging established norms within their respective spheres. Varda, as a pioneering female director navigating a predominantly male industry, seamlessly wove feminist perspectives into her cinematic language, positioning Cléo de 5 à 7 as a significant feminist text of its era.
The taxi scene exemplifies this convergence perfectly. It presents Cléo, a young, independent woman, as she navigates personal anxieties and uncertainties while interacting with other women and men within the intimate confines of the vehicle. This microcosmic interaction reflects the broader feminist struggles of the decade, as women sought to assert their agency across both public and private spheres.
Women's independence in focus
One of the scene's most radical elements is the presence of a female taxi driver—a bold and uncommon choice for the period that directly challenges prevailing gender conventions about « appropriate » professions for women. The driver's matter-of-fact dismissal of the dangers associated with nighttime work demonstrates a quiet normalization of female independence and resilience. Similarly, Cléo's profession as a singer—in an industry dominated by male performers and gatekeepers during the 1960s—further reinforces the film's exploration of female autonomy through professional engagement.
This portrayal aligns philosophically with Simone de Beauvoir's foundational arguments in The second sex (1949), where she contends that meaningful work and active participation in public life constitute essential pathways to women's emancipation. Beauvoir's critique of society's tendency to confine women to « immanence »—roles circumscribed by domesticity and reproduction—while permitting men to experience « transcendence » through creativity and freedom, finds vivid expression in Varda's visual and narrative choices.
Deconstructing female stereotypes
The taxi scene systematically dismantles the reductive stereotypes of femininity that dominated media representation during this period. Cléo transcends conventional one-dimensional portrayals of women as objects of beauty or sources of comfort. Instead, Varda employs intimate, fluid camera movements to reveal her protagonist's emotional complexity and existential anxiety, particularly her haunting preoccupation with mortality—a central thematic concern that drives the entire film. The sequence captures Cléo's stream of internal reflections, including nostalgic thoughts triggered by a fleeting encounter with art students, presenting her as a dynamic, evolving consciousness rather than a static feminine archetype.
This nuanced characterization resonates powerfully with Betty Friedan's seminal work The feminine mystique (1963), which systematically challenged the prevailing cultural myth that women, particularly middle-class housewives, naturally found complete fulfillment within their circumscribed social roles. Despite her apparent material privilege and professional success, Cléo experiences a profound existential melancholy—what Friedan identified as « the problem that has no name »—a pervasive dissatisfaction endemic among women constrained by restrictive societal expectations.
Judith Butler and the performance of gender
The representation of femininity in Cléo de 5 à 7 gains additional theoretical depth when examined through Judith Butler's influential theory of gender performativity, as articulated in Gender trouble (1990). Butler fundamentally challenges essentialist notions of gender by proposing that gender identity is not an innate, biological given but rather a performative construct—a complex series of repeated behaviors, gestures, and acts that create and continuously reinforce societal concepts of gender over time.
Within this theoretical framework, Cléo's behavior throughout the taxi scene can be understood as enacting a series of culturally coded feminine performances—her preoccupation with physical appearance, expressions of vulnerability, and engagement in relational dynamics. However, as the sequence unfolds, Cléo's deep introspection reveals a subtle but significant negotiation with these prescribed gender scripts. While she does not overtly reject or dramatically deconstruct her feminine presentation, she engages in what might be understood as experimental variations on traditional femininity, reflecting critically on her identity and gradually recognizing the limitations that social expectations have imposed upon her agency.
This nuanced performance aligns precisely with Butler's assertion that gender subversion occurs not only through dramatic rejection of gender norms but also through subtle variations, re-significations, and creative reworkings of repeated gendered acts. Cléo's experience thus illustrates a complex navigation between social conformity and personal resistance, demonstrating Butler's central insight about gender as a fluid, evolving performance rather than a fixed, essential identity.
The male gaze and social dynamics
The scene also confronts the pervasive reality of women subjected to what Laura Mulvey would later theorize as the « male gaze ». Early in the sequence, two men in a passing vehicle whistle at Cléo and make intrusive, objectifying comments—a moment that is quickly deflected through nervous laughter and the driver's pragmatic decision to turn on the radio. Rather than offering explicit condemnation of this behavior, Varda presents it with documentary-like matter-of-factness, thereby compelling viewers to confront and reflect upon the troubling normalization of such interactions in women's everyday experiences.
This approach remarkably anticipates Mulvey's groundbreaking essay Visual pleasure and narrative cinema (1975), which theorized the male gaze as a fundamental cinematic mechanism that systematically objectifies women and reinforces patriarchal power structures. Varda's scene operates on multiple levels: it simultaneously exposes the operation of this objectifying gaze while subtly implicating the film's audience as potential participants in these dynamics, thereby inviting critical self-examination of gendered power relations.
The taxi scene in Cléo de 5 à 7 functions as a remarkably concentrated microcosm of 1960s feminist concerns while maintaining striking relevance for contemporary audiences. Through its sophisticated portrayal of women's professional independence, emotional and psychological complexity, and the persistent social realities of gendered power relations, the sequence operates simultaneously as both a valuable archival artifact of its historical moment and a living, evolving commentary on the intersection of feminism and cinema.
Varda's innovative and theoretically prescient approach—anticipating later feminist film theory while creating immediately compelling narrative content—has secured the film's enduring position as a foundational feminist work. More than six decades after its release, Cléo de 5 à 7 continues to generate fresh critical discourse and inspire new generations of filmmakers and scholars, testament to Varda's remarkable ability to embed complex theoretical insights within accessible, emotionally resonant storytelling.
BEAUVOIR, Simone de. The second sex. Translated by H. M. Parshley, Vintage Books, 2011 [1949].
BUTLER, Judith. Gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity. Routledge, 1990.
FRIEDAN, Betty. The feminine mystique. W.W. Norton & Company, 1963.
MULVEY, Laura. “Visual pleasure and narrative cinema.” Screen, vol. 16, no. 3, 1975, pp. 6–18.
VARDA, Agnès, director. Cléo de 5 à 7. 1962.
