Chantal Akerman, Delphine Seyrig, Henri Storck, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, Jan Decorte ...( see more  see more... ) , Yves Bical

Follows the minute details of housewife Jeanne's daily routine over a two-day period. She washes, cooks, shops and cleans, and also entertains gentlemen callers behind closed doors. But gradually, as ...( read more  read more... )small, repeated steps in her routine begin to go awry, we sense that a larger shift may be in progress.

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88% liked it

644 ratings

Critics

100% liked it

14 critics

Unrated, 3 hrs. 20 min.

Directed by: Chantal Akerman

Release Date: January 1, 1975

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DVD Release Date: August 25, 2009

Stats: 72 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (72)


  • October 28, 2009
    "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles" is a fitting title for Chantal Akerman's 1975 arthouse classic. It's a thorough name, giving us more information about the title character than we really need, but meanwhile telling us absolutely nothing about her. She's reduc...( read more)ed to an address, just as her life has been reduced to a ritualistic series of tiresome house chores.

    The film is successful because Chantal Akerman doesn't let us within an arm's distance of Jeanne Dielman. We, as impartial observers, can examine this sort of bourgeois dehumanization without any specific emotional investment. By having such a weary disconnect from Jeanne, we feel sort of like voyeurs - it's a miserable three and a half hours to sit through, really, as the sense of impending doom is so threatening that the simple act of dropping a spoon becomes a massive explosion. You'll never feel so unnerved watching a woman peeling potatoes, let me tell you.

    Delphine Seyrig, who you will recognize from classics like Alain Resnais' "Last Year at Marienbad", plays the title character. Early on, we learn that she's a prostitute. Her occupation is not detailed with anywhere near the eroticism of "Belle de Jour", nor with any of the authenticity of "2 or 3 Things I Know About Her", but it's rather a sort of afterthought. Akerman lets us see everything else - polishing shoes, making coffee, taking baths - but it's not until the end that we get a chance to see Dielman "at work".

    The only other significant character in the film is Sylvain (Jan Decorte), her antisocial but highly obedient son. He's a lanky individual with clothes that never quite seem to fit, and he's perfectly adjusted to the nightly rituals of his home-life. Jeanne serves him without getting even the slightest display of gratitude in return. She sort of represents the misconception that chauvinist men may have of women: she's only good at housekeeping and sex. The ending, a shocking one, is not necessarily pleasant, but it's a powerful feminist statement that debunks women as submissive beings.

    What's remarkable about the film is how fascinating it manages to be in dealing with such mundane activities. It's not an "entertaining" film, per se, beyond it's intellectual puzzles - but the thorough investment in each mind-numbing chore is justified when Jeanne's rituals start to divert from the normal patterns.
  • January 23, 2009
    This is some rigorous shit. It's basically 3+ hours of Delphine Seyrig doing housework composed of perfectly framed static shots that often lasts for many minutes each. (Although never once does she irons any clothes) There are several long scenes in which Seyrig just sits there ...( read more)doing nothing. However Akerman manages to capture something quite mysterious about her daily rituals, as virtually nothing is revealed about her inner thoughts or emotions. The details of these ritualized household chores and the subtle variations that occur from day to day (plus a few expositional dialogue) give the only clues to her character. To top it Seyrig gives another one of her fantastic zombie-like performances.
  • September 21, 2009
    WEB. Funciona como propuesta artístico-intelectual y como una película fascinante, aunque requiere paciencia. La precisión con que está armada y la efectividad con que está contada son impresionantes. / Works as an artistic-intellectual proposition as well as a fascinating movie,...( read more) although it does require patience. The precision with which it is crafted and the effectiveness with which is is told are amazing.
  • September 6, 2009
    Quotidian dream
    The hyper-real as mirror
    In a quite frame
  • August 27, 2007
    The last scene will leave people really writhing, a film that compresses 24 hours of a day into an hour, each day, the more important being shown and the least not shown. As you might know, the things people do in a day can be a bore for some, but the things we do on other might ...( read more)interest the voyeur's eye, waiting and waiting till we see something to our fancy, here, it's the nude bathing scene and the ultimate scene in the last 15 minutes. I must say, the way this film brought about its ending, I thought that the entire long takes on a woman's dreary life was justified. A peeping tom will the audience feel and a strong desire to see something exciting, good stuff will be the fuse to keep you on, like some cretin. A very disturbing movie, very vivid and we really go through the entire torment of this woman, who receives gifts and works for her son, an extremly good film with feminist and existentialist topics being discussed, and the long takes really help you to work it out.

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