The use of cinematic techniques in the cafe scene in Cleo from 5 to 7

The cafe scene (45:23 to 49:22) in Cleo from 5 to 7 utilizes handheld POV shots, editing progression and alteration of shots, mirrors, music and background sound to express Cleo’s changing understanding of herself. The scene happens when Cleo is anxiously waiting for her medical test results and shows the first time she goes out alone. The techniques used convey how, while Cleo is still seeking for validation, she is also starting to be more observant and realize that she might not be as central to the world as she thought she was. The scene therefore challenges Cleo’s self-perception, and marks the start of Cleo finding herself, detached from being made up by other people’s validation.

Cinematography, and the use of handheld POV shots in this sequence expresses a subjective view of Cleo slowly becoming more observant of the world around her, while still searching for self validation. From 45:31 to 45:49 we see the first POV shot of Cleo entering the cafe and walking towards the music machine. As Cleo is walking, she is looking around and observing the people sitting in the cafe. This POV shots uses a handheld camera, thus as viewers we experience the shaky feeling of the image, imitating Cleo’s walking rhythm. This is the longest POV shot so far in the movie, and it shows Cleo observing other people as opposed to her usually being the one who is observed (via the use of objective shots). This, to some extent, illustrates Cleo starting to become more aware of the world around her and paying attention to her surroundings. The use of handheld camera makes the shot feel more as if we were the ones walking and almost breaks down the wall between Cleo and the audience. However this creates a rather subjective view for the audience, since we are now one with Cleo and can only see what she is seeing. The director’s choice to show us Cleo’s surroundings through her subjective view indicates an attempt to show Cleo’s lack of objectivity and open-mindedness. She is still focused on herself and her own benefit and is ultimately looking at other people in order to receive attention and validation for herself.

The pattern, of the use of handheld camera to explore the subjective view, is established through two more long handheld POV shots that go from 46:14 to 46:26 and then from 46:30 to 46:47. Both of these show Cleo walking outside of the cafe through tables of customers and her gaze stopping to look at each of them. These shots also take place after Cleo played her song in the cafe. The idea of perceptual subjectivity continues through these shots, with the camera imitating Cleo and her trying to catch people’s reaction to her song that is playing. Knowing that Cleo is anxious about her medical test results, we can assume that by scanning to see if people are paying attention to her, Cleo is trying to prove to herself that people care about her, and they would be affected if the test results are as bad as she fears. This idea is given to us by the use of handheld POV shots, the undoubtful subjectivity of which shows that even though she is trying to get out of her usual bubble and see the world, she is still self absorbed.

Later on in the scene, the view moves from subjective to slightly more objective, by the use of steadicam instead of handheld camera. This transition illustrates a more detached view of the situation, which is less focused on Cleo and more on the surrounding world, thereby expressing the continuation of Cleo’s self development.

Cleo’s self development journey towards becoming less self centered and more mindful is also evident in editing, through the use of rapid alternation of shots through eyeline matches and editing progression from handheld to steadicam. When Cleo sits down, starting at 47:06 until 47:41 there is a sequence of alternating between close-up shots of Cleo and steadicam shots of customers around Cleo, through eyeline matches. The eyeline matches work similarly as the POV shots, in showing the audience how observant Cleo is becoming. The alternation of these shots being rapid gives a feeling of unease and indicates Cleo feeling anxious about the fact that she is not receiving the intended validation. Furthermore it also resembles Cleo’s attempt to piece herself together out of other people and their opinions.

However as opposed to a handheld camera used in the earlier POV shots, the eyeline matches in this part of the scene use a steadicam. This choice of editing progression presents a transition from a subjective (handheld) to a more objective (steadicam) view. The absence of handheld camera removes the reflection and resemblance of the characters movements and the use of steadicam offers a more fabricated and disconnected view. This allows the audience to be more detached from the character. Thereby the editing progression and the use of steadicam shots in this particular part of the scene exemplifies Cleo herself, as well as the audience, getting out of her head and actually beginning to perceive the surrounding world, illustrating the start of her journey towards becoming less self-centered and more mindful of what’s happening around her.

This simultaneously challenges Cleo’s understanding of the world and herself, which is portrayed in mise en scène, by the use of props, more specifically mirrors. As Cleo walks into the cafe during the first POV shot, she walks towards the music box, passing through four standard mirrors. This presence of mirrors first and foremost symbolizes Cleo’s obsession with her appearance and generally herself, translating into her very self centered view of the world. Furthermore the symbol of a mirror also indicates that Cleo is looking back at herself and her life and reflecting, especially since in this scene her understanding of herself is being challenged in many ways. If we look closely, however, we can see that neither one of the four mirrors in the first shot reflect Cleo, but rather other people only. This reveals how much other people and specifically their opinions are reflected in Cleo’s understanding of herself, and thereby it again reinforces how important validation is for Cleo and to what large of an extent it makes up her understanding of herself.

When Cleo comes closer to the music box, and also during the following shot, we can notice multiple columns with pieces of glass all over, creating distorted mirrors. A similar column is also present right next to the table which Cleo sits down at. There are then multiple shots - at 47:00, 47:16, 47:20 and more, during which we can see a distorted reflection of Cleo on the distorted mirror. The mirrors being made up of little pieces of broken reflective glass, with each one reflecting parts of the whole image, once again creates a resemblance to Cleo piecing herself together out of other people and their opinions, highlighting her persistent dependence on others and their validation. Moreover, since the mirrors on the columns are distorted, everytime we see Cleo’s reflection in them, it is distorted as well, reflecting Cleo’s distorted understanding of herself, as her beliefs, about her being central to the world and the lives of others, are being challenged. This contrasts with the reflections she has been seeing of herself earlier on in the movie, which were clear and precise. However now, the beliefs that she had about herself and her importance in society are being broken, presented by the pieces of a broken mirror and her understanding of herself is distorted, evident in her distorted reflection in the mirror. This causes Cleo to pause and take in the world around her, after realizing that she may not be as central to everybody as she thought she was.

Cleo’s increasing awareness of the world and also her persistent need for validation are consecutively illustrated by the interplay between music and background sound in this scene.

The scene starts with the usual background noise of a cafe. At 46:00 Cleo’s song, which she just put on using the music box, starts playing and becomes the dominating element of the soundtrack. The use of Cleo’s original song, and the idea that she was the one to put it on shows her seeking for validation, by attempting to bring everybody’s attention to herself by playing her original song. However this attempt proves unsuccessful, when at 46:09 the loudness of the song starts decreasing and at 46:13 the soundtrack is intercepted by background conversations of customers as Cleo is passing through them. The conversations quickly overtake the soundtrack and become louder than the song. This illustrates how Cleo is being overshadowed by other people and how, contrary to her former belief, her presence (or her song) is not the most important thing for people at the cafe. This challenges her understanding of herself and her position in the society, as she is not getting the validation from other people like she expected. At 46:47 the camera goes out of the POV and there is an objective medium shot of Cleo. During the beginning of the shot we can still hear people’s background conversations, which shows that the other customers are not only overshadowing Cleo’s song, but also her physical presence, once again reinforcing her limited importance to the people around her, making her question her original beliefs about herself. Hearing other people’s conversations and understanding that they all have their own lives and struggles also makes her realize that, if her test results are bad, life will continue on without her.

When Cleo sits down, at 47:15, there is an internal diegetic sound of her monologue. However, even during that, we can still hear people’s conversations in the background. This is different from other instances of internal monologue earlier in the movie (at 6:52 and 44:13), where the other sound is isolated and we can only hear Cleo’s thoughts. The idea that we can now hear other people’s conversations even during her monologue reflects Cleo’s journey towards becoming a more observant and less egoistic person, as she is capable of hearing more than just her own song or her own thoughts. Furthermore, the song quiets down and eventually even stops at 47:56. This absence of music happens after the shift from handheld camera to steadicam, which marks Cleo’s developing ability to be more objective, open-minded, and less concentrated on herself.

Ultimately this cafe scene in Cleo from 5 to 7 is very powerful in illustrating Cleo’s self-development journey. The director does so by the use of handheld POV shots, editing progression and alteration of shots, mirrors, music and background sound. All of these elements work collectively in order to portray Cleo’s persistent need for self validation, even when she is trying to get out of her self-centered bubble and become more observant. The identified techniques of cinematography, editing, sound and mise en scène, however, also show Cleo becoming aware of the idea that perhaps she is not as central to the world around her as she thought, which challenges her beliefs about the society and her position in it, and causes her to question her own identity.