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''Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' (, "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels") is a 1975 film written and directed by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman. It was filmed over five weeks on location in
Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, and financed through a $120,000 grant awarded by the Belgian government. Distinguished by its restrained pace,
long take In filmmaking, a long take (also called a continuous take, continuous shot, or oner) is Shot (filmmaking), shot with a duration much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera mov ...
s, and static camerawork, the film is a
slice-of-life Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to Naturalism (theatre), naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence ...
depiction of a widowed housewife ( Delphine Seyrig) over three days. The film was met with mixed critical reception upon its release, but gained exposure in Europe and later became a
cult classic A cult following is a group of Fan (person), fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some List of art media, medium. The latter is often cal ...
, and is now considered to be one of the greatest films ever made. It has been labelled an exemplar of the
slow cinema Slow cinema is a genre of art cinema characterised by a style that is minimalist, observational, and with little or no narrative, and which typically emphasizes long takes.Steven RoseTwo Years At Sea: little happens, nothing is explained ''The Guar ...
genre, as well as of feminist film. In a critics' poll conducted by ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' in 2000, it was named the 19th-greatest film of the twentieth century. In the decennial critics' poll published by the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's magazine ''
Sight and Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...
'' in 2022, it placed first.


Plot

The film examines a widowed mother's regimented schedule of cooking, cleaning, mothering, and running errands over three days. The woman (whose name, Jeanne Dielman, is only discerned from the title and a letter she reads to her son) earns money by having sex with a different client each afternoon before her son arrives home from school. Like her other activities, Jeanne's prostitution is part of a mundane routine she performs daily by rote. After a visit by a client on the second day, her orderly behaviour begins to subtly unravel. According to Chantal Akerman she had an orgasm, which destroyed her daily routine. However, this is neither shown nor hinted at on the screen. She overcooks potatoes while preparing dinner, then wanders around the apartment carrying the potato pot. She forgets to put the lid on the porcelain urn in which she keeps her money, forgets to turn off lights in the rooms she leaves, misses a button on her house coat, and drops a newly washed spoon. The alterations to Jeanne's routine continue until her client arrives on the third day. During sex she again has an orgasm, then dresses herself, walks back to the bed where her client is relaxing, and stabs him to death with a pair of scissors. She then sits quietly at her dining-room table.


Cast

* Delphine Seyrig as Jeanne Dielman * as Sylvain Dielman * Henri Storck as the first client *
Jacques Doniol-Valcroze Jacques Doniol-Valcroze (; 15 March 1920 – 6 October 1989) was a French actor, critic, screenwriter, and director. In 1951, Doniol-Valcroze was a co-founder of the renowned film magazine '' Cahiers du cinéma'', along with André Bazin and Jo ...
as the second client * Yves Bical as the third client * Chantal Akerman as the voice of a neighbour in the hallway


Production

After establishing herself as a major film director in 1974 with '' Je, tu, il, elle'', Akerman said that she "felt ready to make a feature with more money" and applied for a grant from the Belgian government for financial support, submitting a script that Jane Clarke described as portraying "a rigorous regimen onstructedaround food ... and routine bought sex in the afternoon". This script would only be the rough basis for ''Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' because after Akerman received the government grant of $120,000 and began production, she threw the script out and began a new film instead. Akerman also explained that she was able to make a female-centric film because "at that point everybody was talking about women" and that it was "the right time". Shooting ''Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' took five weeks and Akerman called it "a love film for my mother. It gives recognition to that kind of woman." Akerman used an all-female crew for the film, which she later said "didn't work that well – not because they were women but because I didn't choose them. It was enough just to be a woman to work on my film ... so the shooting was awful." Akerman further stated that the film is a reaction to "a hierarchy of images" in cinema that places a car accident or a kiss "higher in the hierarchy than washing up ... And it's not by accident, but relates to the place of woman in the social hierarchy ... Woman's work comes out of oppression and whatever comes out of oppression is more interesting. You have to be definite. You have to ''be''." The film depicts long moments of the life of Jeanne Dielman in real time, which Akerman said "was the only way to shoot the film – to avoid cutting the action in a hundred places, to look carefully and to be respectful. The framing was meant to respect her space, her, and her gestures within it." The long static shots ensure that the viewer "always knows where I am".


Reception


Initial release

''Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' premiered in the
Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (, formerly ) is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festival as a ...
of the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. It was initially met with mixed critical reception; many criticized it as a boring or meaningless exercise in
minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...
, while others praised its visuals and use of time. The film's exposure and financial success in Europe helped Akerman to obtain funding for her 1978 film '' Les Rendez-vous d'Anna''. ''Jeanne Dielman'' was not released in the United States until 1983. Upon its release, critic Louis Marcorelles called it the "first masterpiece of the feminine in the history of the cinema".
Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for '' The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has contributed to ...
defended the film's length and pace, saying that it "needs its running time, for its subject is an epic one, and the overall sweep ... trains one to recognize and respond to fluctuations and nuances. If a radical cinema is something that goes to the roots of experience, this is at the very least a film that shows where and how some of these roots are buried". Critic Gary Indiana said that "Akerman's brilliance is her ability to keep the viewer fascinated by everything normally left out of movies". B. Ruby Rich said that "never before was the materiality of woman's time in the home rendered so viscerally ... She invents a new language capable of transmitting truths previously unspoken". Marsha Kinder called it "the best feature that I have ever seen made by a woman". Akerman was reluctant to be seen as a feminist filmmaker, stating that "I don't think woman's cinema exists".


Modern reception

The film has been characterized as an exemplar of the
slow cinema Slow cinema is a genre of art cinema characterised by a style that is minimalist, observational, and with little or no narrative, and which typically emphasizes long takes.Steven RoseTwo Years At Sea: little happens, nothing is explained ''The Guar ...
genre, in which time is foregrounded and narrative action is downplayed. Critic Richard Brody called it a "tour de force of cinematic modernism
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
puts time onscreen as it was never seen before". Critic Jessica Winter wrote that "the film's strength derives in significant part from its austerity, patience, and extreme discipline", calling attention to its use of fixed shots, long takes, and absence of closeups or reaction shots. Winter asserted that "as the minutes and hours pass, Akerman rewards the viewer's attention by recalibrating it". In a 2009 essay, Ivone Marguilies observed that the film was "fully in tune" with the European women's movement of the time, and that feminist critics welcomed its "rigorous alignment of sexual/gender politics with a formal economy—showing cooking and hiding sex—... as an impressive alternative to well-intentioned but conventional political documentaries and features". ''Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' has garnered a
cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...
and praise from the film community. Filmmakers
Todd Haynes Todd Haynes (; born January 2, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender ...
,
Gus Van Sant Gus Green Van Sant Jr. (born July 24, 1952) is an American filmmaker, photographer, painter, and musician. He has earned acclaim as an independent film, independent auteur. His films typically deal with themes of marginalized subcultures. His ...
, and
Céline Sciamma Céline Sciamma (; born 12 November 1978) is a French screenwriter and film director. She wrote and directed '' Water Lilies'' (2007), '' Tomboy'' (2011), '' Girlhood'' (2014), '' Portrait of a Lady on Fire'' (2019), and '' Petite Maman'' (2021). ...
have drawn explicit influence from the film; Van Sant named it an inspiration for his own similar films ''
Gerry Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice pres ...
'' (2002) and ''
Elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...
'' (2003). The film has also been subject to spoofs and parodic versions. With the release of the DVD edition by
The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...
in 2009, the company held a contest that invited fans to create cooking videos inspired by the film, and to post them on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
.


Accolades

The film was named the 19th greatest film of the 20th century in a critics' poll conducted by ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' in 2000. Rated 35th in the 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' "Greatest Films of All Time" critics' poll, and not rated in the top 100 of the 2012 directors' list, in 2022, the film was given the distinction of being voted as ''
Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...
''s " greatest film of all time". The film ranked number 1 on the critics' poll, and tied for 4th place in the directors' poll. It is the fourth film to top the critics' poll after ''
Bicycle Thieves ''Bicycle Thieves'' (), also known as ''The Bicycle Thief'', is a 1948 Italian neorealist drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It follows the story of a poor father searching in post-World War II Rome for his stolen bicycle, without which h ...
'', ''
Citizen Kane ''Citizen Kane'' is a 1941 American Drama (film and television), drama film directed by, produced by and starring Orson Welles and co-written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. It was Welles's List of directorial debuts, first feature film. ...
'', and ''
Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...
'', and the first directed by a woman to do so.


See also

*
List of films considered the best This is a list of films voted the best in national and international Opinion poll, surveys of Film criticism, critics and the public. Some surveys focus on all films, while others focus on a particular genre or country. Electoral system, Voti ...
* List of cult films


References


External links

* * * {{Authority control (arts) 1975 films 1975 drama films 1975 independent films 1970s avant-garde and experimental films 1970s feminist films 1970s French films 1970s French-language films 1970s political drama films Belgian avant-garde and experimental films Belgian drama films Belgian independent films Cooking films Films about families Films about murderers Films about prostitution in Belgium Films about widowhood Films directed by Chantal Akerman Films set in Brussels Films shot in Brussels Existentialist films French avant-garde and experimental films French feminist films French independent films French political drama films French-language Belgian films Slice of life films