Jeanne Dielman 23,Quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 201 minuten
Country:
Belgium / France
Directed by: Chantal Akerman
Stars: Delphine Seyrig, Henri Storck and Jan Decorte
IMDb score:
7,5 (17.256)
Releasedate: 21 January 1976
Jeanne Dielman 23,Quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles plot
Jeanne Dielman, a young widow, lives with her son Sylvain according to a very fixed pattern: while the boy is at school, she routinely takes care of the flat. Each act is shown in detail in all its oppressive routine. In addition to her life as a housewife, however, she has a second life: she receives customers for paid love.
Actors and actresses
Jeanne Dielman
Sylvain Dielman
1st Caller
2nd Caller
3rd Caller
Neighbor (voice) (uncredited)
Reviews & comments
Film Pegasus (moderator films)
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- 31191 messages
- 5473 votes
A portrait of a housewife in a rut full of rituals. An image that you can't just bring, because you quickly get an extra role. The only way to put down such a figure is to take your time. To see how certain daily actions become a ritual. But especially how every deviation or pause increases the tension. Jeanne needs those rituals. She is constantly busy with something and at the same time nothing special. She didn't enjoy it anyway. A conversation with her son, babysitting, cooking, drinking coffee, ... Things that you can also enjoy. Always alone and never really time for herself. Contact with people when necessary, not for social reasons.
The son seems a bit distant, but maybe his mother has also become something practical. And that's why they live side by side. Without conflict, but completely without emotions. She knows the name of the waitress at the café, but that's just convenient for her because she knows her normal order. Not even fun with the baby, it's just one of the many tasks.
If those actions go well, you see her in a kind of trance. That's how it should be, everything under control. Those rituals take over her life so that she can efface herself even more. But if things go wrong by a fraction or if time becomes available (waiting, getting up too early, ...) she can't do that and probably the real Jeanne will emerge who cannot and does not want to deal with life. Which leads to a tension that is clearly noticeable. To be able to film that, you need time and you also get long scenes.
Gus Van Sant would be strongly influenced by this, which you also see in the (admittedly shorter) films Gerry or Elephant. The end of the film Jeanne Dielman is therefore not really the highlight for me, but the build-up to it. Intriguing and sometimes stuffy. But not obvious and a difference with current films where moments of rest or longer scenes occur a lot less.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Leland Palmer
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- 23787 messages
- 4902 votes
Special and special, that's for sure. Fascinating and surprising on the one hand that this didn't get boring for a single moment. Because widow Jeanne Dielman quietly finishes her household chores and director Akerman shows this to the viewer by means of only static shots. The pace is not there. And Akerman proves that you absolutely do not have to. I have been watching with interest the everyday actions of mother Jeanne and her son who comes to eat his plate empty (at least the soup) after school. After Jeanne, as a first-class neurotic let her potatoes cook too long, things slowly go wrong. And although the ending came reasonably well, the whole thing didn't do as much as I had hoped. What remains is a unique film that I can definitely appreciate. However, I can't get further than a good pass, for now.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Onderhond
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- 87623 messages
- 12889 votes
As a Belgian who has never seen anything from Akerman, she is also a director who is mainly known to the hardcore cinephile. Jeanne Dielman is usually the film you see from her, but I didn't find it successful in the least.
The first part seems to be mainly about the mundane life of a housewife. Routine, everything perfectly arranged and coordinated, but boring. I'm not saying it justifies the running time, but the long scenes at least have a clear purpose. The cracks come in the second part. Just about everything from part 1 is repeated, but with a more irritated Dielman, who makes more and more mistakes. After three such scenes it is all clear, but Akerman wants to go through the whole ride again.
Most annoying was that the presentation is very documentary-like (purely static shots, no soundtrack worth mentioning), but the film never feels realistic. The sadness in the first part is extremely exaggerated (especially the deathly interactions with the son), the gradual decline in steps is so conceptual and working towards a point that you don't immediately sit and watch a piece of slice or live.
No, 200+ minutes of this is really not a pleasant pastime. If you are better off cleaning up your house yourself in the meantime, you will have at least achieved something afterwards.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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