The Film (5/5)

    Jeanne Dielman 23, Quai de Commerce 1080 Bruxelles stars Delphine Seyrig (Daughters of Darkness) as the titular Jeanne Dielman. A single Mother of one who lives her life systematically over the course of 3 days. While her son is at school during the day she runs errands, prepares the night’s dinner, and has sex with a single prostitution client which appears to be her income source.  After her son comes home she finishes making dinner, and then helps him with his homework. This process is repeated with various changes over the course of 3 cycles or days.

    Chantal Akerman's 1975 film feels like an effective mix of Kubrick-esque sterile stationary shots, coupled with the repetition of a Warhol film, but grounded in a domestic environment. The film has an odd hypnotic feel to it, which is not really surprising since much of the film is about repetitive processes. Also, it tends to do two things that act as a reversal of a normal film. It shows things that are normally implied, and implies things that are normally shown.

     As an example when Jeanne has sex with her clients, the door is shut, and nothing is seen. Before and after the act their clothes are systematically given to her, and handed back to them. However, we are shown things like Jeanne making beds from start to finish, and peeling potatoes to completion that would normally be implied rather than shown. This creates an oddly disconcerting feeling when watching the film in a way, and adds to the hypnotic effect previously mentioned.

    The direction from Akerman as previously mentioned is fantastic. The film is 3.5 hours long, and never feels the weight of its running time.  The stationary view of the camera gives viewers a feeling that we are getting a real glimpse of 3 days in the life of Jeanne Dielman. Seyrig is, of course, masterful in her role which is absolutely to expected.

Audio/Video (5/5)

    Criterion presents Jeanne Dielman 23, Quai de Commerce 1080 Bruxelles in a wonderful 1:66:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer that preserves the OAR of the original film. Everything looks great here. The neutral color of the Dielman household is preseved, details of the rooms are excellent, and grain is well rendered.

   Audio is presented in an LPCM mono track in French. Everything sounds excellent here with dialogue coming through nicely. I did not detect any issues with the track.

Extras (3.5/5)

    Criterion has put together a solid extras package for Jeanne Dielman 23, Quai de Commerce 1080 Bruxelles. The set includes an onset documentary regarding the film, an interview with Akerman's Mother from 2007, a 2009 interview with Akerman and cinematographer Mangolte, Akerman's first film, a French TV show featuring Akerman and MORE.

Overall

    A wonderfully ambient look at the life of one woman over 3 days Jeanne Dielman 23, Quai de Commerce 1080 Bruxelles gets a fantastic Blu-ray release from Criterion. The Audio/Video aspects, of course, look fantastic, and it has a nice slate of extras. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.