مشهد غناء وعود من العاصفه لمحمود درويش كان هديه من شانتال لي خاصه

Chantal Akerman once again proves she is the greatest director of all time. Pulling out these wildly romantic moments from these actors, so earnest. Even the simple act of waiting for a lover, and then being unseen.

“You wait. As motionless as possible. Your mind becomes blank. You forget about yourself.” 

Akerman is so animated and passionate when she sings! God, I love her. 

Oh, the scene of letter being read/sung by Aurore Clément...

the ONLY behind the scenes doc ever made

Absolutely smitten by this, it’s coarse textures in observation decentralizing the identity of performers, yet basking in both the glow of performance and its rigid labor. It is, however, undoubtedly a admittance of love from Akerman onto the romanticism, and it’s latent despondency, of the musical. Her own renditions display the alienated eye we’re familiar with, but the rich technicolor so articulately displays that internal dichotomy. Emotion is the text of musicals and somehow that expressive facade is unmasked under the sandwiched context of preparation and disassociation, respectively structured. 

Melodramatic gestures, enchanting sentiments and the contradictory joyousness that quietly slips to the forefront.

I keep thinking about Chantal conducting the singer with joyous abandon, her passion uncontainable, enwrapping them both in a dance, all of us in a dance. This is an alternative model of the director: no megaphone, no revolver, no chair, no crane. Of course it is Akerman who both shows us the invisible labour of direction and remakes it into women's glorious work.

This is the kind of movie I wanted to make in film school... it’s probably a good thing they didn’t let me.

There’s a very special moment in Chantal Akerman’s No Home Movie where her mother comments on what great ideas her daughter has. She really did!

Lol, although very, very different, I couldn’t help but being reminded of George Kuchar’s I, An Actress at the beginning. (I guess I think of them a lot together because I find myself the most inspired by those two, especially). There’s something so intriguing about the director/talent interaction. While George, of course, is more... splashy, Chantal is struck by every possible minor distinction.

In grand Akerman tradition, time sure is felt. This is not a quick ~80 minutes, but I again admire Chantal more than before. (I appreciate Golden Eighties more, particularly the music). Though more than this or even Chantal Akerman by Chantal Akerman (a film by Chantal Akerman), Autour de Jeanne Dielman is still my favourite peak into her directing.

Another Masterpiece...

i have never held my tongue on akerman largely being a hit or miss director to me and unfortunately this one hits closer to the misses

This docu/musical by Chantal Akerman had me as soon as I saw...

Yvon Vromman of The Honeymoon Killers:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL7-5o6xMvQ

Like seeing the image of a ghost that only your ears remembered.

Deconstructed then put together musical (that i think was further constructed later as Golden Eighties but we’ll see). Rehearsals, interviews, costume fittings, song recordings, her direction - cut and spread out. And then we see the results and the results are good. I love Lio so much.

مشهد غناء وعود من العاصفه لمحمود درويش كان هديه من شانتال لي خاصه

the ONLY behind the scenes doc ever made

i have never held my tongue on akerman largely being a hit or miss director to me and unfortunately this one hits closer to the misses

The disembodied trance-inducing ghost of a musical.

At your age, grief soon wears off.

Is this a doc?
It’s certainly not fiction.
But it’s not an EPK either.

So, what it is?
It’s rehearsals of a Chantal Akerman musical.
You can see the acting bulk up as they progress.
This is mostly engaging for people who enjoy the whole process.

It’s a delicate balance...
From text to screen and how important it is to adapt.

A ghostlike companion piece to Akerman's more straightforward (although still vaguely eerie) musical Golden Eighties, deconstructing the latter film's narrative and songs into a series of isolated vignettes that gradually build to full-scale numbers. Most of the actors, their heads and legs claustrophobically quarantined in shadowy rehearsal rooms, never actually appear in Golden Eighties (a more star-studded vehicle with icons like Delphine Seyrig and Lio), which contributes to the preternatural effect; for much of its length the film feels like the subconscious, primordial memories of a musical, existing in a state before its performers, much less its melodies and themes, have begun to take shape. Akerman's technique remains beguiling as ever (you may not respond while viewing it, but it will stick with you for days), and her final shot—a 360-degree view of the cityscape with its own natural musical rhythms—provides a glorious, refreshing crescendo to the initial confinements.

Nunca pensei que um processo de teste de elenco pudesse ser tão hipnotizante.

I haven't seen Golden Eighties yet but I still really enjoyed this for what it was and it made me look forward to eventually seeing Golden Eighties. I loved the audition scenes, and the music is really good!

Goodbye Toison d'Or

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