It's the best film of all time according to 1600 reviews: it's available for free here!

News culture It's the best film of all time according to 1600 reviews: it's available for free here!

There are films that everyone agrees on. Regardless of the period or year of release, cinema is an Art that crosses generations and never ages. The very famous Sight and Sound magazine of the British Film Institute names the best film of all time every ten years. It relies on more than 1,600 film critics and academics from around the world to choose the lucky winner. In 2012, it's brilliant Cold Sweats by Alfred Hitchcock who is declared the winner. But in 2022, it is a film directed by a Belgian director and screenwriter that is crowned. This is Jeanne Dielman 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Brussels by Chantal Akerman. It is available for free on Arte TV.

A story that intrigues

In 1976, Chantal Akerman was 25 years old when she decided to release her feature film. The film, which lasts more than three hours, tells the daily life of a housewife who is always well dressed and lives alone with her son. Aged around forty, the viewer discovers that she engages in prostitution in order to make ends meet. The story appeals to spectators but also to the specialized media. They particularly highlighted the performance of the actress who plays the woman. This is Delphine Seyrig.

Chantal Akerman did not make this choice at random. To embody this flirtatious stay-at-home mother, the director wanted a figure of feminism in France. Seyrig is particularly known for being one of the leading defenders of the right to abortion. During a televised debate in 1972, actress and journalist Fanny Deschamps testified to express their discontent “towards men who decide whether or not women will have the right to abortion”. We also find Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Henri Storck in the role of clients as well as Jan Decorte who plays Sylvain Dielman. The viewer will also be able to note that the neighbor's voice is that of the Belgian director. It only took four actors for the film to be considered the best feature film of all time.

A tragic end to life

The film team can celebrate peacefully because the next award for best film of all time will not be awarded until 2032. It will be without the Belgian director who ended her life on October 5, 2015 at the age of 65. For several years, she suffered from manic-depressive disorders. The famous Belgian producer Patrick Quinet paid tribute to him by recalling “his singularity which revolutionized entire sections of international cinema”. His last film made before his death, No Home Movie, was released on February 24, 2016.