3. A Prayer for Lost Things
****** ************* Varda’s film Cléo from 5 to 7 is about a beautiful French starlet awaiting the results of a biopsy. Cléo wanders Paris contemplating her past and future until she chooses to live for the present. The bulk of the movie involves listless wandering and wondering. The existential crisis of those two hours is especially well articulated by a Chinese colloquial expression Sam had learned in Chinese class the year before study abroad: **** - xian zhe mei shi - to meander without purpose. Also approaching accuracy is the French phrase errer comme une âme en peine - to wander like a pained soul. In short, Cleo’s ramble is a heavy undertaking.
The Chinese-language title of Cléo from 5 to 7 is **** **** - Wu zhi qi de Ke lai ao, which means Cléo from
