Cleo from 5 to 7, directed by Agnès Varda, represents a significant work within the French New Wave movement, reflecting feminist ideologies influenced by the second wave of feminism. This paper explores how the film transitions the protagonist Cleo from an object of the male gaze to an independent subject, embodying feminist and postfeminist concepts. Through analyzing visual metaphors, narrative structure, character development, and cinematic techniques such as location shooting, subjective camera angles, and innovative editing, this article demonstrates how the film advocates for women's self-awareness and autonomy.
Honglin Wang (2025) studied this question.