proud_luddite
Three consecutive days are covered in the life of the title character (played by Delphine Seyrig), a middle-aged widow who cares for her teenaged son in the morning and evening, and does various errands in the afternoon. One of those errands seems very surprising for someone whose routine is rather rigid.There are various reasons to think this movie might not work. It's over three hours; the camera is almost always on one character; she is mostly alone and even with others, there is rare conversation. With the exception of a shocking ending, most of the time is spent on the ordinary routines of life. Despite these challenges that would fail with other film-makers, this movie succeeds in a fascinating way mainly due to Seyrig and writer-director Chantal Akerman. By the end, one realizes the movie HAD to be so long to make its point.The ending is so surprising that an initial reaction might be to reject its apparent absurdity. Yet, one cannot help but backtrack to find clues that may have lead to it.Might it be that Jeanne was starting to find an unexpected pleasure in one of her errands and that threw her off her usual sense of being very organized?This film succeeds in causing viewers to think well after the movie, a true sign of greatness. For those of us who are "loners" like Jeanne, we are forced to examine our lives. Living in this earthly plane, we are almost forced to have a routine to survive; but when does the routine become a problem?"Jeanne Dielman" might also be considered ahead of its time in exposing mental illness, signs that are apparent as we often see the despair on Jeanne's face as she stares into space.At the and of the film, I said to a long-time cinephile friend sitting to next to me, "Now that was definitely an ART film." Usually, I'm condescending whenever I say that. In this case, I meant it as a compliment.OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT: Directing by Chantal Akerman
davikubrick
There can be no doubt that Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles is a masterpiece, but above that it's one of the greatest and most powerful films ever made. Akerman introduces us into Jeanne's boring life-routine that by little details starts crumbling apart, the film is divided into two parts (Jeanne's second and third day), the movie starts with Jeanne already in the middle of her first day, in the first minutes of the film we discover that she is a prostitute, after we see her son, Sylvain, a teenager who spends most of his day in his school, their relationship as mother-and-son is not very good, they almost don't talk or show any kind of feelings for each other, especially Sylvain. After dinner she reads quickly a later from Canada from her sister Fernande, she reads quickly without showing any kind of emotion. After she seam and listen to classic music at the same time, they go out to a place (which is never told or shown)and come back to home, she combs her hair and briefly talks with her son before they go to sleep. Then the second day comes, and almost everything is repeated, so we can get into Jeanne's life, but, it is on the second day that things starts to become difficult, she forgets to buy potatoes and goes quickly to buy them before the night and her son comes, we see her for the first time worried, she cuts the potatoes with no apron and with her hair all unkempt, and then her son comes without she have cut all potatoes, which during the dinner gives them some minutes to talk, a big tension is build up in that scene, Jeanne briefly talks with her son about his school and after, the potatoes are read. Another signal that things are going wrong is when she forgets to the turn the radio on, after, reminded by her son to turn the radio on, she tries to answer the letter from her sister Fernande who now lives in Canada, but for some unknown reasons she can't and tries to seam, and Jeanne and her son go out again, and the same thing that happened in the first day happens again, almost like a ritual which Jeanne can't or won't escape, at least, not in that day. In the third and final day is when things really starts to go wrong, Jeanne forgets to button up one of the buttons of her dress, which serves as a premonition for the day she will have. Her alarm wake up her one hour earlier, during this time, where she has no work to do, she tries to play with the baby that her neighbour left there for sometime after go get it back, but the baby starts to cry louder and louder, so she stops playing with him. Later she goes to the city to try to find the button of one of her son's coats but she can't. Later she receives a present for her sister Fernande, she goes open it in her bedroom with the help of a scissors, one of her clients touch her bell, she left her scissors in her bedroom and go open the door. For the first time in the film the sexual act is shown (both are wearing shirts) and possibly in the first time in Jeanne's life she has an orgasm, she seems traumatized while button up her shirt, then she looks to her scissors and then the tragedy happens. Akerman manages to make small and ordinary little details like forgetting to buy potatoes, drop a spoon, later a mop fall to be as impactful as the death of an important character in another film, the film builds her routine so well that those little details become powerful. This is a must-see for anyone who considers himself a cinephile, it's a movie that requires patience, much patience of the viewer, but as a reward it gives you one of the most powerful experiences you could have with not just a film but with a work of art.
WNYer
Vivid, uncompromising portrait of three days in the lonely life of a middle aged widow who manages her apartment, takes care of her young son and turns tricks for support.Experimental film consists of stationary, single take camera shots - some lasting several minutes - giving you a glimpse of the main character's repetitive, mundane existence. Whether its stopping at a café to drink coffee, peeling a batch of potatoes in the kitchen or cleaning each porcelain piece in her living room, viewers sit through each arduous task all the way through. It reminded me of some modern day reality shows where a camera is just parked in a room and viewers watch whatever goes on - only in this case Jeanne is usually the only one there.Delphine Seyrig performance as Jeanne really shines. She is in every scene of the film and really carries it well. It is even more impressive considering that there is very little dialog and that any other characters that appear are peripheral. Seyrig convincingly conveys Jeanne's character and emotional state by simple actions and subtle expressions. This really comes into play on the third day when things start to go wrong and you feel the character is starting to become unhinged.The camera work and framing of the scenes are exceptionally well done and sound is used very effectively to convey Jeanne's suffocating world. The constant tapping of her shoes as she walks across a wooden floor, the repeated clicking from turning lights on and off, or the mechanical sounds of the elevator each time she goes in or out of her apartment building, they all emphasize the obsessive orderliness and emotional detachment in her life.The biggest negative about the film is that it is nearly 4 hours long. Sitting that long watching a person doing menial tasks is a bit taxing. I viewed the film piecemeal over three successive evenings (1 for each day represented) which worked for me. On the positive side, the film does grow on you as you watch it and you feel like a bit of a voyeur peering into someone's life. You feel Jeanne's monotony and growing frustration which lets loose in the final shocking act. It's worth checking out.
valbrazon
"Jeanne Dielman" is the movie where you already know it's from a true story, many women stays at home to clean the house during the whole day. You surely ever heard of someone in your entourage who has the same life.We can interpret this film like a critic of the cliché of the wife who mostly stay at home and the husband who drink alcohol front of television. Directed by a woman, it's probably sure as she wanted to tell as the life of housewife is not funny at all.The crew of the movie is mostly composed of women (scriptgirl, cinematographer...), it's very rare in cinema industry.A must see movie.
