So you're curious about this Chantal Akerman director now that one of her movies has been named the best film ever made. But that movie is a bit of a time commitment. Where to start?
Let's walk through the options on @criterionchannl ...
criterionchannel.com/directed-by-ch…
First off there's her first short made at age 18, Saute ma ville (Blow Up My Town), in which she plays herself. It's a mischievous and charming work that presages her later big theme — deadening domesticity devolving into breakdown and chaos. And it's just 13 minutes long!
Then the silent, wordless, plotless compositional experiments.
La Chambre explores a room for 11 minutes. Hotel Monterey slo-o-owly & hypnotically explores a NYC hotel for 1 hour. Nothing "happens" except colors, shapes, spaces. (The latter anticipates many shots in The Shining)
Akerman's first narrative feature (sorta) is JE TU IL ELLE (1974). She plays herself in a deeply personal film about depression, physical and psychological isolation, and attempts to find connection through sex.
criterionchannel.com/videos/je-tu-i…
After JEANNE DIELMAN comes NEWS FROM HOME. Are you excited to hear loving but needy letters from Chantal's mom being read over mostly still shots of 1976 New York City? You should be. It captures a place and time as if in amber
criterionchannel.com/videos/news-fr…
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