X
- 1978
- Not Rated
- Janus Films
- 3 h 22 m
- 1978
- Not Rated
- Janus Films
- 3 h 22 m
Summary A lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores, takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to make ends meet. However, something happens that changes her safe routine.
Written By: Chantal Akerman
- 1978
- Not Rated
- Janus Films
- 3 h 22 m
- 1978
- Not Rated
- Janus Films
- 3 h 22 m
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
6.5
Where to Watch
Summary A lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores, takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to make ends meet. However, something happens that changes her safe routine.
Written By: Chantal Akerman
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
94
93% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 15 Critic Reviews
94
93% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The protracted scenes of eating, cooking and cleaning carry neo-realism to its end point -- and to a violent climax which emerges logically and terrifyingly from the welter of daily trivia preceding it. [24 Oct 1997, p.L]
Jeanne Dielman is not for all tastes. But for those with the necessary patience, it is a game-changing masterpiece. [11 Sep 2009, p.G18]
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 17 User Ratings
6.5
59% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
12% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
29% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 17 User Ratings
6.5
59% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
12% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
29% Negative
5 Ratings
5 Ratings
Ultimately, Jeanne Dielman registers not as a condemnation of domesticity, but a document of the exhaustion that comes from caring for others and never receiving care in return.
Chantal Akerman’s radical 1975 masterpiece Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai Du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles turns the term “realism” on its face, exploring the contours of a woman’s life through the mundane routines that never make it into movies.
By placing so much emphasis on aspects of life and work that other films routinely omit, mystify, or skirt over, Akerman forges a major statement, not only in a feminist context but also in a way that tells us something about the lives we all live.
Being fascinating and unique, two qualities unquestionably in evidence here, don’t automatically deserve praise and, because of the film’s high quotient of tediousness, I find it impossible to recommend to any but the most devoted of experimental art film lovers. It works very well, however, as a cure for insomnia.
For three hours+ you get the opportunity to look a lot at the beautiful leading lady doing her household chores (plus some "other" chores that you don't see so much of...) In between you have to put up with some quite annoying appearances of her idiotic and ugly son. Sums up to quite a bore. For the main character as well as for the viewers. What happens in the end comes as no surprise.
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