In this film, an insecure, vain pop star, Cleo, waits to hear the results of a biopsy. She spends time with her maid, her lover, and her band who regard her fear of cancer as just another of her moods, and reassure her that she is young and beautiful so there is nothing to worry about. Her self-pitying mood is pushed to the edge and she sets off on her own, reconnecting with a series of people who she relates to more authentically and eventually hearing her diagnosis.
The film is brilliant in how it shows the paranoiac and isolated feelings of a person facing death unexpectedly. Everyone seems to Cleo to be staring at her. The subject of death comes up casually again and again, but suddenly it is no longer a joke to her. Faced with something as overwhelming as cancer and death, Cleo falls back on superstition and self-pity.
The singing adds an interesting element, that is both beautiful and on point. There is a scene where Cleo sings a beautiful tragic song about a woman dying of love. She is moved by the tragedy, but the irony is that she and her lover are using each other and don't have real feelings for each other. Her other songs have to do with sexy manipulative women who get whatever they want, which is ironic because while Cleo's whims are indulged, she is fundamentally childish and without a will of her own, manipulated by those around her.
Cleo's suffering seems authentic and moving, but her salvation as the film goes on somewhat less so. It is an inspiring idea that the fear of death can be overcome by moving from a shallow mentality to a state of real human connection. Unfortunately, that the idea is one one would like to be true doesn't make its presentation in the movie convincing. In particular, the end of the movie, where a brief encounter with a sympathetic young soldier seems to cure her fear of death doesn't convince. Related to this issue is the heavy-handedness in which we are reminded by voice-overs and dialogue that Cleo is childish and caught up in herself, as if it's only due to being emotionally deficient that her potential cancer is a problem at all.
Overall, a movie worth watching, well done and with an interesting subject matter. The overall premise is fascinating but there are not many particular scenes from this movie that deeply moved me or stick in my memory, so all in all not essential.
The film is brilliant in how it shows the paranoiac and isolated feelings of a person facing death unexpectedly. Everyone seems to Cleo to be staring at her. The subject of death comes up casually again and again, but suddenly it is no longer a joke to her. Faced with something as overwhelming as cancer and death, Cleo falls back on superstition and self-pity.
The singing adds an interesting element, that is both beautiful and on point. There is a scene where Cleo sings a beautiful tragic song about a woman dying of love. She is moved by the tragedy, but the irony is that she and her lover are using each other and don't have real feelings for each other. Her other songs have to do with sexy manipulative women who get whatever they want, which is ironic because while Cleo's whims are indulged, she is fundamentally childish and without a will of her own, manipulated by those around her.
Cleo's suffering seems authentic and moving, but her salvation as the film goes on somewhat less so. It is an inspiring idea that the fear of death can be overcome by moving from a shallow mentality to a state of real human connection. Unfortunately, that the idea is one one would like to be true doesn't make its presentation in the movie convincing. In particular, the end of the movie, where a brief encounter with a sympathetic young soldier seems to cure her fear of death doesn't convince. Related to this issue is the heavy-handedness in which we are reminded by voice-overs and dialogue that Cleo is childish and caught up in herself, as if it's only due to being emotionally deficient that her potential cancer is a problem at all.
Overall, a movie worth watching, well done and with an interesting subject matter. The overall premise is fascinating but there are not many particular scenes from this movie that deeply moved me or stick in my memory, so all in all not essential.