Chantal Akerman FilmFest: Day 4

Movie: Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
Year: 1975

First things first. This is a very demanding movie, to say the least. Not a whole lot happens (at least not in the traditional sense) and it's almost 3 1/2 hours long. I don't think any of it's impact would have been lost if had been, say, an hour shorter (although, having said that, the sheer length of the movie adds another layer of quality). It's a challenge and you have to approach watching it with that particular mindset. I've seen it now once and that will be enough to tie me over for a while. Not because it's bad or because I didn't enjoy it--I liked it very much and Akerman is deserving of the praise she's received in the 35 years since its release. I don't feel like I have to watch it repeatedly because it has already ingrained itself into my memory, which is another tribute to Akerman's unstinting vision.

For me, "Jeanne Dielman" is like free jazz. I love jazz in all its forms, but I my relationship with free jazz is decidedly love/hate. So much of it (at least for me) is just a bunch of atonal, self-indulgent noise--not even remotely interesting. Maybe I don't "get it." But on many of the free jazz records in my collection (and I have a fair bit), there are often moments of exquisite beauty and tenderness that come rising out of the murk. The journey is thing, and when you get to a payoff that you have worked hard for, it makes it all that much rewarding.

So it is with "Jeanne Dielman," rightly regarded by critics over the years as a feminist masterpiece. Jeanne (Delphine Seyrig) lives in the apartment of the title with her teenage son Sylvain (Jan Decorte). Much like the characters in other Akerman films, the two don't talk very much. However, it's easy to tell that the widowed Jeanne is a good mother; she spends her days doing things cooking for the two of them, helping Sylvain with his studies and knitting him a sweater. Jeanne and Sylvain are both emotionally closed--although there is clear love between the two of them, there is little warmth. They rarely even look at one another and largely go about their separate ways.

In order to make ends meet, Jeanne turns tricks while her son is at school (and touchingly leaves the money in a little ceramic pot on the table). It's a detestable existence and slowly but surely Jeanne begins to unravel. Outwardly, she is pretty much the same and continues about the mundane duties of her daily routine just as tortoise-steady as ever. But the cracks begin to emerge, driving Jeanne to commit a final, desperate act that ends the movie.

Akerman was 25 when she made this film. Stop and think about that one for a minute. What where you doing when you were 25? I was still living at home, struggling to get my career off the ground after slogging my way through journalism school. No prospects, no vision, nothing. And I'm sure that would be similar for a lot of people. So for Akerman to deliver a statement like this is really amazing. It is a flawed gem, sure, but a gem nevertheless. It is an important, lasting and thought-provoking work that is certainly worth at least one investment in your time.

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