Rating: 5/5
“How could you know? You’re not a woman”
The radical concept of allowing a woman — or more insidiously, women’s work — occupy three hours of your time
I’ve seen another Chantal Akermann — Je tu il elle — so I didn’t feel like I was coming in blind in terms of how space and time would be utilized. Unlike Je tu il elle, I feel like this movie expertly uses it’s time and breaks apart it’s scenes with a subtle sense of pacing
The film also functions as a time capsule of flat life in 1970s Brussels, which adds an additional layer of curiosity perhaps not intended originally
When she picks up the newspaper and you think she might give herself a break — she turns on the radio, picks up a magazine, and knits a sweater— she’s just like us, she can’t just sit and do one thing — and even then she can’t sit still for even the entire duration of Für Elise
She reminds me a little of my step-mom, who spends her entire day looking for things to do around the house. I remember all of us sitting down to watch a movie, and about 30 minutes in, she got up and started vacuuming the house
That said, I don’t think my step mom is doing sex work, but what do I know?
About halfway through, the movie changes, or rather, Jeanne changes, and it’s only by observing her for this long that the change in her patterns become more and more noticeable
Delphine Seyrig Is so good in this, the camera is on her practically the entire movie, and she does so much storytelling with the smallest details and gestures
This is extremely my deal, I love this
Stray thoughts:
- The color grading for this is perfect
- I want a light switch over my bed!
- I want the silverware drawer to be built into the table!
- Watching her peel potatoes was so nerve-wracking, I was so sure she was going to cut herself somehow
- Belgian waffles in the display case at the grocery, that rules