JEANNE DIELMAN

Ok.

So last night, I finally got to see Chantal Akerman's 1975 classic JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES.

Brand new 35 mm print, playing two nights only at Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

I really don't think I can even serve this film justice by my words. I'm not articulate enough to accurately explain how amazing this film is.

JEANNE DIELMAN follows its title character (played by Delphine Seyrig, LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD), through her daily routines as a widowed homemaker/part time prostitute. Jeanne has a specific rigorous routine every day- she wakes up, she opens her bedroom window, she prepares coffee, she shines her son's shoes, she wakes her son up, she serves him breakfast, she sees him off to school, she bathes herself, she shops for groceries, she makes herself lunch, she tidies the apartment, she looks after her neighbor's infant child, she begins to prepare dinner, while her vegetables cook, she has sex with a client. By the time the sex is over, her vegetables are done. She returns to cooking. She welcomes her son home, she serves him soup, they sit in silence, she serves him the main course, she knits and listens to the radio, and then goes to bed.

And so we follow this mundane routine in near real time over the course of three days. The focus becomes the rhythms of movement, the structure of the day. The first scene that really struck me was watching Jeanne and her son eat the soup... watching the offbeat rhythm of their spoons dipping into the bowl and then to their lips reminded me of how when you're walking alongside someone, for a few paces your steps are completely unconsciously in sync before finding their own separate paces. These kind of small moments are what the film is all about. Seeing these incredible intimate details calibrates our attention and allows us to pick up the subtle hints that display Jeanne's eventual internal unraveling as the days go on. The effect is a slow, harrowing and cumulative emotional portrait of isolation and the dark side of domesticity that is truly unlike anything I've ever seen before.

JEANNE DIELMAN was an EXPERIENCE. It NEEDS to be seen in a theater as it demands your full attention. The scene toward the end when the neighbor's baby is crying could honestly be one of the most amazing scenes I've ever seen in a film. The underlying psychological repercussion of that scene is totally unreal, and the whole audience collectively felt it. My jaw was literally hanging open.

After the film I got invited to a party, and I went, but was in zero mood to socialize or even be around other people. JEANNE DIELMAN is still lingering in my mind right now, and I have a feeling that in some way, it's probably going to haunt me for the rest of my life.

As I said, I'm not really capable to do the analysis/review that it deserves. So I'm going to post some links to a few good articles on the film.:

Slant Magazine

New York Times

IMDB