CHANTAL AKERMAN -- GODMOTHER OF THE NEW EXTREME

Antonio Campos cites Chantal Akerman, and especially her seminal film JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES (1975), as inspirational on AFTERSCHOOL.  Akerman came to campus in Fall 2009 when she exhibited Chantal Akerman:  Moving Through Space and Time at the Miami Art Museum (MAM).  JEANNE DIELMAN... is considered a masterpiece of structuralist and feminist cinema (although Akerman would argue against that label) and The New York Times called it the "first masterpiece of the feminine in the history of the cinema."  Operating on the idea of "boredom," mentioned by Catherine Wheatley in the FUNNY GAMES reading, Akerman is rigorous and demanding of the spectator.  The film unflinchingly documents the quotidian details of a Belgian mother during her domestic duties and her somewhat surprising interludes as a prostitute.  Static camera shots, duration that express the oppressive weight of real time, seemingly laconic editing, and a distant camera manage to build a suspense unique to cinema.  JEANNE DIELMAN... is about waiting and waiting and waiting for something unknown and shocking.

Here is a great essay on JEANNE DIELMAN from Ivone Margulies, a leading Akerman scholar and a participant in the University's colloquium on the director.



THE FIRST EXTREME

There is an undeniable trend toward the extreme in 1960s and 1970s cinema around the globe.  Here is a short list of some of the most infamous films in history as well as some directors that have always navigated the extreme in cinema.  This is by no means definitive:  If you think of some more films, please add them.

THE SILENCE (Ingmar Bergman, 1963)

RED DESSERT (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1964)

WEEKEND (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)

THE HOUR OF THE WOLF (Ingmar Bergman, 1968)

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (George A. Romero, 1968)

REPULSION (Roman Polanski, 1965)

PERSONA (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)

MADEMOISELLE (Tony Richardson, 1966)

BELLE DU JOUR (Luis Bunuel, 1967)

I AM CURIOUS – YELLOW + BLUE (Vilgot Sjoman, 1967-68)

PARTNER (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1968)

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)

PINK FLAMINGOS (John Waters, 1972)

LAST TANGO IN PARIS (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1972)

THE HOUSE ON THE LEFT (Wes Craven, 1972)

THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE (Jean Eustache, 1973)

MAITRESSE (Barbet Schroeder, 1973)

HI MOM (Brian De Palma, 1973)

LA GRANDE BOUFFE (Marco Ferreri, 1973)

SWEET MOVIE (Dusan Makavejev, 1974)

THE NIGHT PORTER (Liliana Cavani, 1974)

JEANNE DIELMAN (Chantal Akerman, 1975)

SALO, OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM (Pasolini, 1975)

THE MIRROR (Andrey Tarkovskiy, 1975)

CHINESE ROULETTE (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1976)

ERASERHEAD (David Lynch, 1976)

A VERY YOUNG GIRL (Catherine Breillat, 1976)

IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES (Nagisa Oshima, 1976)

SUSPIRIA (Dario Argento, 1977)

CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (Ruggero Deodato, 1980)

L’ARGENT (Robert Bresson, 1983)

VIOLENCE AND MEDIA

If you're at all interested in Haneke's interest in violence and media be sure to check out Sidney Lumet's NETWORK (1976).  The film looks at television and its audience's desire for violence and shocking material.  It is a fascinating film that examines the extremes of violence and media.  Even after thirty-five years NETWORK is still as relevant today, perhaps more so in a world of reality television.  As far as commentary on violence and media, NETWORK is essential viewing.