Criterion Collection - Online Cinematheque

A traveling exhibition of installation works by Chantal Akerman, currently at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (its final stop in the United States, ending August 2), has given writer Hesse Caplinger the opportunity to discuss this brilliant Belgian filmmaker in an excellent piece in the St. Louis Fine Arts Examiner this week. If you’ve never seen anything by Akerman, whose galvanizing masterpiece Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, is coming out on Criterion DVD next month, Caplinger provides a swift, intelligent introduction to the “ferocious delicacy” of her approach to filmmaking. And if you’re already an Akermanian, he’ll give you detailed insight into the three video pieces on display, each of which incorporates footage from many of Akerman’s movies. Writes Caplinger: “Taken together, the work in this exhibition serves as an elaboration and extension to Akerman’s filmic sources.”

Categories: Clippings