Experimental, visionary, feminist… The work of the Belgian director shows the substance of life, its ordinary and its fantasy. On the occasion of an exhibition dedicated to his Jeu de Paume, Arte.tv is offering six of his films to watch for free.
« Golden Eighties », de Chantal Akerman. Collections Cinematek/Fondation Chantal Akerman
By Marion Sergent with the Cinema department
Published on December 9, 2024 at 8:00 p.m.
Lhe Belgian director, who committed suicide in 2015, at the age of 65, remained on the sidelines until her death. It was not until 2022, when the British magazine Sight and Sound the elected Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Brussels best film of all time, that eyes were turned towards it. Nearly ten years after her death, a retrospective in theaters and an exhibition at Jeu de Paume have finally recognized this pioneering, radical and lively filmmaker. Arte.tv pays tribute to him by offering six of his films for free: Jeanne Dielman; Golden Eighties; I, you, he, she; The Captive; Anna’s Meetings; The Almayer Madness. Et Telerama liked five from this selection.
For Delphine Seyrig: “Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Brussels”
Paradise Films – Unit Three
Radical in both substance and form, this masterpiece created at just 25 years old by Chantal Akerman is one of those inexhaustible works, subject to multiple and even contrary interpretations. Alienation or exhilaration? Erotics of domestic work? Ode to frigidity? Feminist manifesto? In 2022, the British magazine Sight and Sound voted it the best film of all time.
Read our review
“Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Brussels”
Intime show : “Golden Eighties”
Collections Cinematek/Fondation Chantal Akerman
In a hair salon, the romantic relationships of the boss, once again brilliant Delphine Seyrig, are commented on by her employees. Between lightness and seriousness, the Belgian filmmaker creates an unexpected fantasy with this delightful musical comedy as well as a very personal film.
Read our review
“Golden Eighties”
Unheard: “I, you, he, she”
Paradise Films
Alone in her room, transported by a truck driver, welcomed by a lover friend. A naked body, the grain of a youthful voice, a pen and a bed: this is the Akerman-style liturgy, his cult of intimate wound (I) and narcissistic play (you). Twenty years before all the others, the director honors the autobiography, giving it body and soul in this singular cinema.
Read our review
“I, you, he, she”
Proustian: “The Captive”
Gemini Films
A young man stubbornly doubts the love of his companion, a docile young lady but “guilty” of having loved women before him. And follows her everywhere. The Proustian theme of a total and hopeless love in the desire to possess the other is borrowed from The Prisoner. But Chantal Akerman knows how to make her music heard, fascinating.
Read our review
“La Captive”
Inner Exile: “Anna’s Appointments”
Helene Films – Paradise Films – Unite Trois – Second German Television (ZDF)
Anna, a young 30-year-old filmmaker, travels by train from city to city to present her latest film. Like a traveling salesman or a sailor, she has one-night stands. One of Chantal Akerman’s major works with Aurore Clément, double and fantasy that she sublimates in this film.
Read our review
“Anna’s Meetings”
We didn’t like: “La Folie Almayer”
Shellac – Alfama Films
In Southeast Asia, Almayer, a European merchant, clings to his dreams of fortune out of love for his half-Malay daughter, Nina. Chantal Akerman had produced a beautiful adaptation of Proust with La Captive. Conrad’s lyrical style is much less successful for him.
Read our review
“The Almayer Madness”
Exhibition at the Jeu de Paume, in Paris, until January 19, 2025.
Chantal Akerman box set. Ed. Capricci, 14 Blu-ray, €149.95.
Chantal Akerman, written and spoken work, ed. L’Arachnéen, 3 volumes in box, €69.
Also read:
Chantal Akerman, unclassifiable filmmaker, icon in the making
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