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Belgium, France · 1975
3h 22m
Director Chantal Akerman
Starring Delphine Seyrig, Jan Decorte, Henri Storck, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze
Genre Drama
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A lonely widowed housewife takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son. She does her daily chores, cooks and cleans, and uses sex work to make ends meet for her and her son. Slowly, her ritualized daily routines begin to fall apart.
It's not a brisk 201 minutes but it is engrossing and rewarding, a painstakingly realistic account (oozing verisimiltude out of every frame, and there are a lot of frames) of three days in the life of the female protagonist of the title, portrayed by Delphine Seyrig.
Not only is it a stunning piece of filmmaking that is as rich in detail as it is patient in its exploration, but it also makes the most of absolutely every single element of its slice-of-life portrait.
Avant-garde triumph revolving around the seemingly mundane life of a widow in Brussels.
Slant Magazine by Eric Henderson
Chantal Akerman’s 1975 experiment in film form, Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, is an astonishing work of subtextual feminism which has to count as one of the seminal films of the 1970s.
ReelViews by James Berardinelli
Being fascinating and unique, two qualities unquestionably in evidence here, don’t automatically deserve praise and, because of the film’s high quotient of tediousness, I find it impossible to recommend to any but the most devoted of experimental art film lovers. It works very well, however, as a cure for insomnia.
Ultimately, Jeanne Dielman registers not as a condemnation of domesticity, but a document of the exhaustion that comes from caring for others and never receiving care in return.
Miami Herald by Rene Rodriguez
Jeanne Dielman is not for all tastes. But for those with the necessary patience, it is a game-changing masterpiece. [11 Sep 2009, p.G18]
The New Yorker by Richard Brody
Akerman’s chillingly sardonic feminist fable—which also bears the weight of unspoken wartime trauma—is built on a sublime paradox, the elusive identity of someone who, as the title suggests, is so easily identified.
Chantal Akerman’s radical 1975 masterpiece Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai Du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles turns the term “realism” on its face, exploring the contours of a woman’s life through the mundane routines that never make it into movies.
The New York Times by Vincent Canby
Jeanne Dielman... has been described as minimalist, though I don't see how any film this long and so packed with information could be equated with minimalism as defined in painting. The manner of the film is spare, but the terrible, obsessive monotony of the life it observes is ultimately as melodramatic as, say, Roman Polanski's ''Repulsion.''
A female film director explores New York City while enduring demanding letters from her mother.
Several elderly men and their dogs venture into deep forests to search for the most expensive ingredient in the world.
A wonderful film that has really stuck with me since I first watched it. The stationary camerawork along with the subtle yet incredibly important detailing make this film so smart and unforgettable. A classic from Akerman.
While some may find Akerman's epic of the banal a bit monotonous, I find the the pace and structure of the plot almost thrilling. Chantal Akerman's film is a masterclass in patience and empathy, allowing the audience to sit in the life and experiences of her main character. Never truly looking away from her, the film creates a unique sort of empathy for the viewer, crafting an unmissable film.
After three days spent with Jeanne, I decided that this might be the most horrifyingly beautiful movie I have ever seen. It's so nuanced, making me simultaneously want to bang my head against the wall just to have something else to do while watching and also spurring a deep desire in me to reach into the film and hug her.