Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Chantal Akerman

Writer:

Chantal Akerman (writer)

Release Date:

21 January 1976 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Jeanne Dielman, a young widow, lives with her son Sylvain following an immutable order: While the boy...

Plot Keywords:

Digit In Title | Character Name In Title | Number In Title

Cast

Chantal Akerman	...	Neighbor (voice)
Delphine Seyrig	...	Jeanne Dielman
Jan Decorte	...	Sylvain Dielman
Henri Storck	...	1st Caller
Jacques Doniol-Valcroze	...	2nd Caller
Yves Bical	...	3rd Caller

Runtime:

201 min | Argentina:201 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

Belgium | France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Brussels, Belgium

Company:

Paradise Films

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: On the morning of Day 2, as Jeanne is polishing her son's shoes in the kitchen, the shadow of the boom mic can be seen moving along the white curtains and wall behind her.

Movie Connections:

References The Stepford Wives (1975)

Someone has to provide the admittedly obvious complaints, so I'll do it

A film that is much more interesting to read about than actually watch. Akerman takes "realism" to a new level, basically setting up a camera and observing a very lifeless, dull person for 200 minutes. That woman, played by Delphine Seyrig, is a prostitute, catering to a client a day in her depressing apartment, as well as a single mother. We study her daily rituals as we occasionally glance down at our watches (or push the call button to see how much time is left). Okay, I get it. The problem is, I got it after the first 10 minutes. I got it, really, from reading descriptions of the film. After that, the remaining 190 minutes aren't especially worth sitting through. Notice that even after 190 minutes of breaking taboos of how not to put the audience to sleep, Akerman forces the (literally) climactic sequence. I think I understand what she was going for here, but it's not especially honest given the rest of the film. It shows that even she had to resort to a cheap narrative trick to end the film. All in all, the film is little more than a gimmick. Though I could have been doing better things with my time, I am glad I finally got to see this. I wasn't really bored out of my mind – like Jeanne Dielman, I went through my own daily rituals while glancing up at the screen. Chantal Akerman did make some accurate observations about the human condition after all, even if they are fairly shallow in themselves.