A Criterion Feast
November 21, 2012
Film Info
- Belgium, France
- 1975
- 201 minutes
- Color
- 1.66:1
- French
- Spine #484
A singular work in film history, Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles meticulously details, with a sense of impending doom, the daily routine of a middle-aged widow—whose chores include making the beds, cooking dinner for her son, and turning the occasional trick. In its enormous spareness, Akerman’s film seems simple, but it encompasses an entire world. Whether seen as an exacting character study 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.
Cast
| Jeanne Dielman | Delphine Seyrig |
| Sylvain Dielman | Jan Decorte |
| First caller | Henri Storck |
| Second caller | Jacques Doniol-Valcroze |
| Third caller | Yves Bical |
Credits
| Director | Chantal Akerman |
| Writer | Danae Maroulacou |
| Cinematography | Babette Mangolte |
| Producer | Evelyn Paul |
| Art director | Philippe Graff |
| Editing | Patricia Canino |
| Assistant directors | Serge Brodsky, Marianne de Muylder and Marilyn Watelet |
| Sound | Benie Deswarte and Francoise Van Thienen |
| Sound editing | Alain Marchal |
| Sound mixer | Jean Paul Loublier |
Disc Features
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET
- Restored digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Chantal Akerman
- Autour de “Jeanne Dielman,” a 69-minute documentary—shot by actor Sami Frey and edited by Agnes Ravez and Akerman—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
- 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 an essay by film scholar Ivone Margulies
Current Posts
Photo Galleries
Video
Photo Galleries
On Five
We Have a Winner
October 29, 2009
With fifty-six terrific entries and more than six hours of content, it was difficult to pick . . . Read more »
Announcements
Guide to the Jeanne Dielman Video Contest
October 07, 2009
Our Jeanne Dielman–Criterion Collection Cooking Video Contest on YouTube has been a huge . . . Read more »
Video
Film Essays
A Matter of Time: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
By August 18, 2009
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles is Chantal Akerman’s masterpiece, a . . . Read more »
Film Essays
A Matter of Time: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
By August 18, 2009
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles is Chantal Akerman’s masterpiece, a . . . Read more »
Photo Galleries
Video
Photo Galleries
News
Akerman Takes on Conrad
December 15, 2010
We’re always excited to find out what the great, unpredictable auteur Chantal Akerman is up . . . Read more »
News
Looking with Babette Mangolte
February 23, 2010
Babette Mangolte, the French-born, New York–residing artist best known to Criterion viewers . . . Read more »
On Five
We Have a Winner
October 29, 2009
With fifty-six terrific entries and more than six hours of content, it was difficult to pick . . . Read more »
Announcements
Guide to the Jeanne Dielman Video Contest
October 07, 2009
Our Jeanne Dielman–Criterion Collection Cooking Video Contest on YouTube has been a huge . . . Read more »
Press Notes
Press Notes: Jeanne Dielman
September 03, 2009
In his Huffington Post review of our new release of Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai . . . Read more »
Video
Film Essays
A Matter of Time: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
By August 18, 2009
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles is Chantal Akerman’s masterpiece, a . . . Read more »
