Post by captainofbeef on May 31, 2009 10:28:47 GMT -5
A singular work in film history, Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles brilliantly evokes, with meticulous detail and a sense of impending doom, the daily domestic routine of a middle-aged widow—whose chores include making the beds, cooking dinner for her grown son, and turning the occasional trick—just as it begins to break down. In its enormous spareness, Akerman’s film seems simple, but it encompasses an entire world. Whether seen as an exacting character portrait or one of cinema’s most hypnotic and complete depictions of space and time, Jeanne Dielman is an astonishing, compelling movie experiment, one that has been analyzed and argued over for decades, and is finally making its long-awaited DVD debut.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET
* Restored digital transfer, approved by director Chantal Akerman
* Autour de “Jeanne Dielman,” a 70-minute documentary, shot by actor Sami Frey and edited by Agnes Ravez, made during the filming of Jeanne Dielman
* New interviews with Akerman and cinematographer Babette Mangolte
* Excerpt from “Chantal Akerman par Chantal Akerman,” a 1997 episode of the French television program Cinéma de notre temps
* An interview with Akerman’s mother, Natalia
* Archival television interview excerpt featuring Akerman and star Delphine Seyrig
* Saute ma ville (1968), Akerman’s first film, with an introduction by the director
* New and improved English subtitle translation
* PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by film scholars Ivone Margulies and Janet Bergstrom
