oneflyr
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Post by oneflyr on Jun 29, 2017 20:57:22 GMT
In all its Criterion High Definition glory, it might have become one of my 10 favorite movies of all time or so.
It's almost 3 1/2 hours of a woman performing her household chores in an orderly manner, yet it's so immersive and transfixing that the time just flies by. It's so damn interesting watching her careful routine slowly unravel, revealing a much darker, discomforting reality. Probably one of the best films dealing with mental illness too, perfectly illustrating how we all retreat into and create our own little bubble of painstaking routine, and how exposed and threatened our ego feels when everything begins to slowly fall apart. The feeling of repression and looming danger is so acutely portrayed through Delphine Seyrig's subtle body language changes and Akerman's precise framing and attention to detail, where nothing is left to chance - perfecting reflecting on the film's main theme of escapism through order and repetition. The ending is probably the biggest kick in the gut, ever. It somehow feels both incredibly out of tune with the rest of the film and at the same time completely inevitable and inescapable, her feelings finally and suddenly erupting like a volcano into a tangible, threatening form. It's the perfect climax to end the film with, leaving the viewer with plenty of thought provoking ideas to chew on. Am I alone in thinking this is one of the greatest films ever made?
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Post by Lord_Buscemi on Jun 29, 2017 21:22:25 GMT
You've usually got pretty great taste, so I'll definitely add it to my watchlist.
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oneflyr
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Post by oneflyr on Jun 29, 2017 22:18:21 GMT
Damn. I appreciate the level of praise, but I rewatched it recently too and I find it to be one of my least favorite Akermans. And I don't get what stands out here, I feel like there wasn't a lot to it. Just kind of rudimentary actions this lead character takes, and I just feel it.... thin. I enjoy watching mundanity as the next guy, but this just feels like some slightly more interesting Wiseman. Everything is pretty perfunctory for me, I don't feel the era at all, or the relation to the environment. And wasn't even the best Seyrig performance of 1975. I know nobody is going to agree with me, but I felt Akerman has done far better - even if some of her other films can be argued to be a little tamer in comparison, and I agree with that because Jeanne Dielman does have a pretty strong conscious to it. Oh, how would you rank them? |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2017 22:23:05 GMT
It's been on my watchlist for a while... I'm planning on seeing it at least by the end of summer. I'm really hesitant about it, but still excited. The idea seems interesting- but Jesus, 3 hours is a long time.
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Film Socialism
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Post by Film Socialism on Jun 29, 2017 22:25:23 GMT
i really love it but yeah akerman has done better. she's crazy inconsistent for me, making three films that are genuine top 100 material (something that like 5 other filmmakers have done for me), did a couple other i like, and then made some real shit.
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oneflyr
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Post by oneflyr on Jun 29, 2017 22:35:05 GMT
It's been on my watchlist for a while... I'm planning on seeing it at least by the end of summer. I'm really hesitant about it, but still excited. The idea seems interesting- but Jesus, 3 hours is a long time. It honestly doesn't feel like 3 hours at all. Idk if it's even possible for a film to be as well paced and deserving of its runtime as this one. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2017 22:50:46 GMT
Love Exposure has the best pacing of any movie ever, so yeah. Edit - this is in response to the post below mine.  |
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Post by Lord_Buscemi on Jun 29, 2017 22:51:27 GMT
It's been on my watchlist for a while... I'm planning on seeing it at least by the end of summer. I'm really hesitant about it, but still excited. The idea seems interesting- but Jesus, 3 hours is a long time. It honestly doesn't feel like 3 hours at all. Idk if it's even possible for a film to be as well paced and deserving of its runtime as this one. Maybe either Love Exposure or OUATIA? |
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Post by Lord_Buscemi on Jun 29, 2017 22:53:51 GMT
Love Exposure has the best pacing of any movie ever, so yeah. Edit - this is in response to the post below mine.  I just deleted it instead of editing it. |
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Post by pacinoyes on Jun 29, 2017 23:01:55 GMT
I think it's pretty great but it's level of acclaim imo is largely based on it's feminist POV or that you can read it as such. I would argue similar films - male lead/male directed films are maybe more personal faves of mine in the 70s - Bergman's From The Life Of The Marionettes, Fassbinder's I Only Want You To Love Me or Why Does H. Herr Run Amok? etc. which are tied into such themes as the emptiness of male workplace materialism or male sexual repression/conflict.
But Jeanne Dielman refracts that same general story all through a female perspective so it kind of jumps to the top of this type of film just for narrative slant which makes it stand out. It's weaknesses work in it's favor in a way - you couldn't show the male leads in the previously mentioned films being quite that mundane, but with Dielman showing it like that is in itself making a deeper statement.
I actually don't think you got that kind of film again until years later - "Story Of Women" or Alain Tanner's "Messidor" - not in the "plot" of course but in the way that feminist POV is communicated (by 2 French males nonetheless).
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I just deleted it instead of editing it. 
