Varda, Cléo and Pomme in Paris: the figure of the chanteuse in Cléo de 5 à 7 and L’Une chante, l’autre pas

Abstract Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962) and L’Une chante, l’autre pas (1976) are two films by Agnès Varda that explore the figure of the chanteuse. In the first film, Cléo is a ‘modern’ chanteuse de variétés of the early 1960s, with her character containing echoes of both Sylvie Vartan and Edith Piaf. Yet, during the film, she sheds her mainstream singer image that is associated with narcissism and manipulation, and transforms her outlook by leaving her career behind. The second film follows Pomme, a young woman who also starts out in popular music in the 1960s, but later finds her calling as a chanteuse engagée for the Women’s Movement of the 1970s. Pomme’s empowerment is directly linked to her engagement with folk-influenced, protest music, which grows stronger as time moves on. This essay reveals Varda’s input into contemporary debates surrounding the female singer in the 1960s and 1970s, and it identifies overlooked aspects of the canonical New Wave film Cléo de 5 à 7, in comparing it to the lesser analysed L’Une chante, l’autre pas. Through close textual analysis of musical styles, lyrics and performance, this paper examines two different portraits of the French female singer in film.