The Female Gaze:

An Analysis of
Cleo from 5 to 7
The Female Gaze looks to evoke
emotions and feelings, focusing on
touch, interactions, and atmosphere
instead of just action and seuxality. In
contrast to the male gaze which is a
theory that women in media most
often get depicted through a
masculine perspective and because
of this they get objectified and
sexualized.
Cleo From 5 to 7 is a
chronicle of the minutes of a
woman's life as she awaits
the test results of a biopsy. It
is a spirited mix of vivid vérité
and melodrama, featuring a
score by Michel Lengrad and
cameos by Jean-Luc Godard
and Anna Karina.

Cleo undergoes a profound transformation of her
entire being mainly through learning that looking
is just as being important as being looked at. She
transforms into an active social participant,
rupturing the oppressive unity of identity and
vision and appropiating the gaze of herself in a
new appreciation of others in the world.
This film shows Cleo
constantly being faced with
mirrors and never being able
to resist looking into them.
People gawk at her on the
street. She dresses nicely. Her
pseudo-personality is rooted in
sensuality. Cleo obscures her
self-identity with a costume of
desirability. This all changes
when Cleo realizes she has
lost her true self in a life
oversaturated by to-be-looked-
at-ness.