A tribute to the pioneering work of Akerman

The programme featured a variety of short and long films directed by Belgian director Chantal Akerman, who made groundbreaking contributions to the global film industry, including her 1975 film "Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles".

The film was voted the greatest film of all time by British monthly film magazine “Sight & Sound” in 2022. The magazine has conducted the vote every 10 years among film critics since 1952.

Before “Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles”, two films had been chosen the greatest film of all time, namely “Citizen Kane” and “Vertigo”.

“Citizen Kane”, directed by American Orson Welle, has been chosen for the honour many times. The film enabled audiences to solve the mystery of “Rosebud", the last word of a millionaire who owned many businesses and was a press baron.

The film created many innovations in the film industry, such as the "deep focus shot" narrative method that makes the picture clear at all distances instead of blurring in the front or the back.

Welle also paid attention to picture composition, including people, distance, depth and lighting. He also created the "flashback" narrative method that enables audiences to witness previous events, something rarely found in films released in 1941.

What made “Citizen Kane” really special was, Welle was just 25 years old when he directed the movie.

However, Citizen Kane lost its spot as the “all-time greatest” in 2012 to a classic and famous film, “Vertigo", a work of British director Alfred Hitchcock. The combination of mystery and its film-noir cinematic style excited audiences during that time.

The film narrates the story of John "Scottie" Ferguson, a detective afraid of heights after a rooftop chase in which a fellow policeman falls to his death.

Scottie is assigned by a businessman to investigate why his wife goes on an almost 100-kilometre drive every day, which leads him to an unexpected incident.

“Vertigo” amazed the readers of “Sight & Sound” as a film with many intriguing characters, such as the mysterious woman who waits for the protagonist.

Many audiences watched this film purely for excitement after its release in 1958.

However, film critics discovered many innovations in the movie several years later, such as a spiral motif linked to a psychological complex, the use of red and green to convey meaning, and interpretations of Scottie's behaviour in terms of psychoanalysis.

“Vertigo” proved that audience views on a film can change over time, as some people may see the film as outdated or contemporary. This applies to other films as well.

For instance, many people would say film critics who voted “Vertigo” as the greatest film of all time were weirdos.

However, “Sight & Sound” film critics voted for “Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” ahead of “Citizen Kane”, “Vertigo”, “In the Mood for Love” (Wong Kar Wai, 2000), “2001: A Space Odyssey” (Stanley Kubrick, 1968) and “Tokyo Story” (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953).

Akerman directed “Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” when she was 26 years old. Besides being a major change as a feminist film, it raised a larger question for the film industry: "What can be made into a film?"

Most films from both Hollywood and Europe those days had a "larger than life" plot and developed exciting stories that could not happen in real life, forcing the protagonists to overcome problems, such as horror or science fiction.

European directors, mostly men, usually tell their stories by picking up personal experience or people's hardship to gain attention among audiences.

Instead, Akerman directed her story about a three-day routine of Jeanne Dielman, a housekeeper who lived in a house with her son.

The film starts by revealing that Dielman works as a sex worker, but it later describes her normal daily life, such as opening the window, preparing her bed, cooking, eating with her son, cleaning the house, taking the elevator, reading a letter and taking care of the neighbours' children.

All activities are described in a time frame. For instance, Dielman walks into an apartment with three small rooms, occasionally goes outdoors to buy goods and enjoy a cup of coffee at a store.

Unlike protagonists in fiction stories, she has a problem with her role as a European woman and housekeeper whose life is stuck in the same loop.

“Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” enabled the audience to question Marxist ideology, which stated that men work outdoors to raise funds for taking care of their family instead of women who work indoors.

The film's plot, revolving around housework, also showed how families could live happily because of the housekeepers' efforts.

I had a chance to watch “Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” at the Thai Film Archive and was impressed with this film. Lebanese-born French actress Delphine Seyrig's acting as Dielman is really awesome.

Seyrig's acting when peeling potatoes, drinking coffee whose taste does not satisfy her, and grabbing something from her pocket aptly portrays the boredom and sadness of the European housekeeper.

I remember, there was a Thai short film about a Thai housekeeper, which was influenced by this film. I will write about this film in my next column.