Chantal Akerman, very first film was Saute ma ville (lit. Blow Up My Town), a 13-minute short that, despite its crudeness, seems to already prefigure Akerman's masterpiece, 7 years hence, Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles. Here we have a woman (Akerman herself), trapped in routine and wanting to break free, and blowing up not her town so much as her life. Instead of a calculated drama, it's a chaotic (if dark) comedy, which Akerman herself calls "burlesque", but can also be seen as a youthful vs. mature reaction to the oppression of everyday life. The score, done my Akerman with mouth noises and humming, is actually pretty funny, and the invasively loud foley is part of the same device. It wouldn't be entirely ridiculous to put this at the front of Jeanne Dielman in a short/feature presentation, as it's not long enough for the "student film" aspects to discourage, and might provide an interesting contrast to Akerman then in full control of her powers.
Akerman - a genius since the very first film. Amazing how so many themes from her later work are already in this first short. I would love to have an isolated audio track of this!
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BaalMan
https://fb.watch/leVH8VZCTm/?mibextid=Nif5ozSiskoid
Chantal Akerman, very first film was Saute ma ville (lit. Blow Up My Town), a 13-minute short that, despite its crudeness, seems to already prefigure Akerman's masterpiece, 7 years hence, Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles. Here we have a woman (Akerman herself), trapped in routine and wanting to break free, and blowing up not her town so much as her life. Instead of a calculated drama, it's a chaotic (if dark) comedy, which Akerman herself calls "burlesque", but can also be seen as a youthful vs. mature reaction to the oppression of everyday life. The score, done my Akerman with mouth noises and humming, is actually pretty funny, and the invasively loud foley is part of the same device. It wouldn't be entirely ridiculous to put this at the front of Jeanne Dielman in a short/feature presentation, as it's not long enough for the "student film" aspects to discourage, and might provide an interesting contrast to Akerman then in full control of her powers.thesearethethoughts
Akerman - a genius since the very first film. Amazing how so many themes from her later work are already in this first short. I would love to have an isolated audio track of this!