A scene in Agnès Varda’s film, Cléo from 5 to 7 (17.10.2026 BBC4), reminded me of an image seared into my memory from the 1960s. The scene shows Cléo (Corinne Marchand) crossing a Parisian street. Traffic gave way so she and a few other people could cross.
My memory? Traffic lights changing when I was halfway across a road in Paris. I had to run for my life to survive a surge of Peugeots and Simcas coming at me, engines roaring, radiator grilles grimacing. They weren’t about to stop.
Traffic lights – those weapons of mass distraction, danger and delay!
How many roads must a man try to cross, before they’re forever banned?
