Like is usually the case with these sorts of things, the day-to-day maintenance operations of and for the patriarchal state are performed almost entirely by women. As the subjugated, enslaved class, they engaged in the preprogrammed routinized, menial labor without which the patriarchy could not be. The entire physical and psycho-emotional substrate of the apparatus of their oppression is entirely dependent upon their daily activities. Women are responsible for all custodial, caretaking tasks in support of male supremacy: cooking, cleaning, education, rearing, procreation, sexual gratification, etc. What is more, the evacuation of autonomy, of personal time, of personal thought, with the burden of near-constant routine action, is a (the?) primary modality of patriarchal oppression. 'Jeanne Dielman' is not about revolution…

I don't know why the routine that is depicted on the first day is taken as routine. I watched it and assumed that this rigid human being would adhere to this routine, even though each subsequent day is slightly (or drastically) different. The film succeeds in making it feel like a routine so thoroughly that the changes that come in the next two days are sharply distinct. Those static camera angles and the eerie flickering neon lights that pervade the house at night make the film seem harsh and predestined to some sort of apocalypse, and they reinforce the tight control Jeanne seems to cling to.

Jeanne seems to be in a state of self-denial, constantly moving, working to keep…

"Your hair's a mess."
"I cooked the potatoes too long."

When this was introduced, we (the audience) were told that if we feel bored, that's entirely by design. I see what he (the presenter) was getting at, and I'm sure he's completely correct, but I can't say that I ever felt bored while watching this. Certainly not bored in the way that doing the very activities depicted onscreen (cleaning dishes, making beds, having liaisons with strange and unappealing men) make me feel. A character like this, played with as much subtlety as Delphine Seyrig gives her, presented in this way could not be boring.

There's repetition, monotony, tedium, yes, but there's so much to take in. There is purpose and,…

There’s a 4 minute unbroken take of the titular woman and her son eating dinner. At one point the motion of the fork moving to their mouths, the bite and swallow, and then the fork returning to the plate is completely in sync. That’s what Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles is about.
I’m often obsessed about how every menial task and every moment where I’m not being entertained is (potentially( a waste of time. To frame Jeanne Dielman’s world the way that Akerman does is to both confirm and challenge our own mundane existence. Delphine Seyrig's deceptively dispassionate performance provides subtle cues to every emotional break that leads up to the gradual unraveling of her routines. There’s…

Jeanne Dielman is a boring film, but it also happens to be the rare case where that descriptor isn't a negative thing. In that sense it reminded me of Out 1 - another movie that used boredom to slowly connect with its audience in a way that, for me, has lasted months after I finished it.

In the case of this film, the boredom is almost paradoxical in the way that a rather incredible tension emerges out of it. The scene in day 2 when she slices potatoes is absolutely riveting precisely because we're watching all of our boring expectations unravel before our eyes. The film lulls you into a sense of routine expectation so effectively that even the smallest…

Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce 108- Bruxelles was a daunting film to watch, but seeing as I'm unemployed at the moment and full of free time, I figured now was as good a time as any to finally sit down and watch this film that has been on my watchlist for quite some time now. Chantel Akerman crafted something special here, a tense and unflinching portrait of a woman who is imprisoned by her own routine. The film is long, running about 200 minutes, and it is incredibly slow, but the pace is justified entirely by the usage of time that Akerman presents. One scene that stood out in particular is a scene involving the cooking of meatloaf: we…