Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
classified 15 SA woman cooks. A woman cleans. A woman runs errands. A woman takes care of her son. A woman sleeps. A woman wakes. Repeat the cycle. Chantal Akerman’s masterpiece unspools over three-and-a-half hours, turning the mundanity and boredom of life’s daily rhythms into an investigation of womanhood, stasis,tragedy and order, with Delphine Seyrigin the titular role–a performance of near-perfect stillness.
Focusing almost exclusively on Jeanne Dielman’s day-to-day existence, punctuated by the visit of clients for sex work before her son returns from school, the film’s slow, methodical pacing produces a hypnotising effect that draws the viewer in.It’san effect most keenly felt in the space of a cinema.
Enshrined by critics and scholars as the Greatest Film of All Time in the 2022 edition of Sight & Sound’s famed decennial poll, and the first film directed by a woman to be given that accolade, Jeanne Dielman stands as a distinctly modernist masterpiece.
The Thu 27 Feb 15:00 screening will be followed by a Conversations About Cinema panel discussion in partnership with the Philosophy Department at University of the West of England. Guests to be announced soon.
- Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles on Fri 7 Feb 11:00 is an Elevenses screening. Get a free tea or filter coffee when you purchase a cake from the Café & Bar.
-
What A Good Dielman: get 20% off when you buy tickets for four or more screenings as part of Chantal Akerman: Adventures in Perception. Discount automatically applied at check out.