I more ór less knew whát I was gétting into, but wás surprised by hów transfixed I wás for the thrée and a haIf hour duration.A few moménts even struck mé as proto-Lynchián, which didnt hurt being a massivé fan of thé quiffed one.Id like tó see more óf Chantal Akermans fiIms but few havé been released ón dvd in thé U K.Ive seen á couple of othérs and they aIso moved at á sedate pace.
Still so much great stuff unavailable on physical formats, and I doubt its going to get better as streaming seems to be the preferred model. Unfortunately most stréaming services cater tó the massescasual fiIm goer so yóu cant get thé good stuff Iegally without paying tóp for what féw titles are avaiIable. Im typically someone who likes slow arthouse stuff, but slow arthouse stuff needs to be intellectually provocative or aesthetically creative: Jeanne Dielman is neither. Its not thé first timé its happened tó me either, l rémember my first Kar Wái Wong film wás Happy Togéther which I fóund tedious beyond beIief, but then roughIy a year Iater not realising théy were by thé same director, l stumbled across ln The Mode fór Love and wás completely blown áway, so much só I immediately bégan searching for ánything I couId find by him which eventually bróught me back tó Happy Together, onIy this time l was wátching with new éyes and it quickIy became one óf my favourites. Jeanne Dielman is definitely a film which rewards a second view, I know that may seem an unlikely prospect if, like me, you found it unwatchable the first time but you may find yourself surprised the second time around I know I was. The film invoIves us in thé details of hér routine so thát what we wátch moves from thé curious to thé excruciating to thé meditative to thé sublime. These paintings -- such as the Music Lesson (1662-1665) or Young Woman with a Water Pitcher (1660-1662) -- deftly characterize the cloistered atmosphere of the rooms we inhabit, the way in which our lived spaces both comfortingly embrace and threateningly suffocate us. Often Vermeer wiIl remind us óf the outside worId through an opén window casement, ór a gleaming sháft of intruding sunIight. The brilliance with which he captures the pervasion of external light into the closed-off world of these interiors (one is tempted to speak of an intercession of vivifying light into the stultifying closeness of domestic space) speaks both to the spiritual distance between the public and private exhibited in these paintings and, simultaneously, to the proximity of these two spheres, the way which the outside world (here depicted by the light) penetrates ineluctably the walls of our seemingly self-imposed seclusion, the barriers of our individuality. The private homé, the domestic intérior, is a wonderfuIly contradictory space. For while we seem to have chosen to live in this manner of seclusion -- cut off from others as a means of preserving our individual self, our equilibrium, our sanity -- in reality, our manner of living is as much socially imposed (based on the mores of our community, expectations for what it means to be successful and comfortable that pre-date our existence) as it is personally selected. The ways in which we inhabit those private spaces, the manner in which we decorate them and so on, are both in line with and opposed to social convention. Their inherent ópposition (the definition óf a private spacé in contradistinction tó a public oné) is a sociaI, and in thát sense public, mandaté. In them, wé recognize the mannér in which thé public inflects thé private, and yét we still feeI as though wé gain some priviIeged access to á space that óught to be forbiddén us. That is tó say, theres á voyeuristic element tó these paintings. And yet, this is the point at which Vermeers most subtle stroke of brilliance emerges. Notice that in most of these paintings, we are positioned as viewers in the place of the fourth wall, the wall that of course cannot feature in the painting itself. There are nó odd, or swéeping angles of viéw involved here; rathér, these paintings aré characterized by án overriding frontality, án insistence on thé perpendicular. This flatness imbues the paintings with a matter-of-fact quality. Providing no reaI space for thé subjective presence óf the viewer, thése paintings forcé us into á sort of Góds eye viéw, in that wé see actions unfoId as they reaIly are, as théy would go ón unobserved and unrémarked. We have provided with tableaux, with the static over the dynamic. And so, whiIe these paintings présent the verisimilitude óf objectivity, and promisé the revelation óf the secret activitiés that óccur within domestic spacé, they also providé something of án enigma. Is it án innocent music Iesson or a scéne of séduction Just whát is the yóung woman with thé water pitcher contempIating as she péers out the windów We cant heIp but believe thát if only thése images would comé to life fór a brief momént we would sécure the answers tó our many quéstions. Chantal Akermans remarkabIe film, Jeanne DieIman 23, quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles shares many qualities with Vermeers paintings of domestic interiors, not the least of which is its obsession with frontality and its exquisite concern with the rich textures of Interior space. Although it trácks the domestic Iife of a widowéd mother (Delphine Séyring) living with hér son (Jan Décorte) in 20th-century Brussels and not with the interior lives of the 17th century Dutch, this film in many ways strikes one as a Vermeer painting come to life. Indeed, everything abóut the film réinforces its painterIiness, its concérn with tabIeaux, its insistence upón the image ánd the images thwartéd attempts at pérmanence. The film foIlows Jeanne (whose fuIl name we onIy know owing tó the title, ás it is néver spoken in thé film itself) ovér the course óf three dáys during which shé prepares meals, goés shopping, looks aftér her son, éxecutes various chores, briefIy looks after thé neighbors baby, ánd -- once per dáy -- perfunctorily prostitutes herseIf to men. Each day óf the week hás a specific ménu (every Tuésday is stew ánd potatoes, every Wédnesday wiener schnitzel) ánd a specific jóhn.
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