Such a frustrating disappointment

Simply A Masterpiece

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

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

Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels (French: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles) (1975) Chantal Akerman Taking people-watching to A whole new level. Saw the twist ending coming, Like a mile away. Forced to mind-numbingly watch Perfect depiction For Einstein's "insanity", Doing the same thing, Expecting a difference. Experimental? Endurance Experiment. Not for fun watching. For admiring film as art, Academic use, Psychological study. In these contexts, this film shines.Choka (long poem) is an epic storytelling form of poetry from the Waka period, an unrhymed poem with the 5-7-5-7-5-7-5-7...7 syllable format (any odd number line length with alternating five and seven syllable lines that ends with an extra seven syllable line). #Choka #PoemReview

A tribute to the late cinema avant-gardist Chantal Akerman, who committed suicide one month earlier at the age of 65, which stroke as a big shock for auteurist cineastes, despite of the fact that her works have never been acknowledged as festival darlings, or enticed into mainstream filmmaking. JEANNE DIELMAN is her most well-known achievement, a minimalist masterpiece came out 40-years ago, made by her at a young age of 25, Akerman is such a staunch and pioneering saboteur to subvert audience's customary viewing experience and triumphs, which only makes us more regret about her untimely departure.The title refers to the address of Jeanne (Seyrig)'s one-bedroom only apartment, she is a comely widow living with her son Sylvain (Decorte), now a high-schooler, who sleeps on the sofa bed in the living room. The picture runs over 3 hours, spans across 3 days, more precisely, a little longer than 2 entire days, and notably installs long static shots (through various angles) to observe Jeanne doing her daily chores in a mechanically arranged order. From day 1, in the afternoon, 3 minutes into the film, Akerman cunningly stimulates audience with curiosity through the introduction of Jeanne's profession (conveniently she works at home), then, indefatigably details her routines, preparing her 2-course dinner, eating dinner with Sylvain, helping him with homework, reading to him the letter from her sister in Canada, then both take a mysterious night-walk outside before sleeping. Day 2, she wakes up, prepares breakfast, cleans Sylvain's shoes, after he goes to school, she goes out to the post office, grocery, enjoys her coffee break in the bar, takes care of her neighbour's infant, then again prepare food, welcomes a new client, it is a circle meticulously presented and purposefully defies any empathy, thanks to the retiring nature of the mother-and-son pair.Things goes slightly different in the second circle, firstly the overcooked potato (alleged because her customer has overstayed his time) causes their dinner delayed a bit, but they stick to the routine of night-walk, and a terse before bedtime convo with Sylvain stirs Jeanne (sexual activity and pain, an awkward topic between mother and her son), then day 3, the routine goes on, but Jeanne seems to unnoticeably disquieted, being clumsy in the kitchen, maybe because she wonders why the gift from her sister still hasn't arrived, but the coffee suddenly tastes bad, and she cannot find the right button for Sylvain's coat, even in the bar, her usual spot is taken and is served by a new waitress, also neighbour's baby cannot stop crying when she fondly holds her (the only time Jeanne reveals some evident emotion), there is an understated disintegration in the making. Finally, her sister's gift arrives, but also arrives is another client, she barely have time to try the present, and a scissor is left in the boudoir. The long-awaited twist breaks out abruptly, completely terminates the experimental patience-test which meanders near 3 hours, moreover, it intrigues immensely about the rationalism behind Jeanne's behaviour, feminist stance is an easy explanation, but, too literal, a pattern-disruption angle could be more felicitous, Jeanne is an animal of habitual routines, so is the approach towards her means of livelihood, when this pattern is steadily breached in day 3, she simply cannot take it anymore. The origin of the impulse (apart from Jeanne's taciturn nature) can be traced back to the intangible suppression of the society unleashes on woman, especially a single-mother, Akerman scarcely shows any interactions between Jeanne and the outer world, understandably she is protective of her privacy, but the entire atmosphere is not healthy.Some film offers a 2-hour roller-coaster ride then after that it vanishes completely, some instead lulls you into a claustrophobic snooze-fest, but if you can survive it, its repercussions can mark forever in one's head, this film is a paradigm of the latter, bravo for Chantal Akerman! One final comment, Delphine Seyrig is such an mysteriously elegant actress, although most of time she has to act like a cipher in an installation, she can hold viewers spellbound, whether she is peeling potatoes, washing dishes or taking the elevator ups-and-downs.

Rare is it that a movie is so true to life that it crosses the line into "cinéma vérité", or rather reality movies. Jeanne Dielman (...) offers a perfect example of this phenomenon. Its namesake is a widow raising her young son, Sylvain. We see her go through her routine, implacably and relentlessly. She wakes up, makes coffee, prepares supper, takes care of another woman's child for a short time and breaks the drudgery by selling herself for a short time in the mid-day before her son returns from school.The camera stays in focus on Jeanne and her environment throughout the whole affair. Rarely do we see her out of her apartment and even more rarely do we hear her speak. The silence is nearly oppressive, filled with household noises and street noises but naught else. However, the keen observer will notice subtle differences during the second of three days presented in the film. After she takes her second caller, her behaviour changes, coming to a head on the morning of the third day. Is the milk at fault, is it the coffee or is it her? We find out only mid-day through, when we peek into the otherwise shut door that hid her encounters with her callers.Intertwined in all of this is her relationship with Sylvain, who reads during supper and speaks of sex in such a manner that is telling to us as we know what Jeanne does, but he does not. "I'd never sleep with a man I would not love if I were a woman." "But you are not a woman..." and there we have the power of truth exposing the lie, as her words about her former husband belie her current state.Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles is masterful, rewarding your attention and challenging you to pay attention to every detail as only then will your concentration be rewarded. The film clocks in at three hours and some, each hour being a day in Jeanne's life. Not an easy film to watch, but a must-see nonetheless.