In Praise (or Not) of Chantal Akerman

Glenn Kenny's piece speaks of "differing accounts" of cause in Brit and French media.

wtf.

Maybe it depends on fine point of French grammar that is misunderstood in the UK.

Sorry, not trying to be amusing, it was confusing to me when I looked at the French reports.

seems suicide mentioned in all the french language articles

vaguely recall having read how young she was when jeanne dielman was made, nonetheless thought she would have been quite a bit older than 65

RIP

Fernando Croce:

Once at a film class I heard two dudes enthusing about PTA being only 27 when he made BOOGIE NIGHTS. I couldn't resist chiming in: "Akerman, 25, JEANNE DIELMAN."

I had completely forgotten that i saw her do that Almayer's Folly Q&A three years ago, which shows that ILX will be helpful as i dodder on.

so this is sad and awful. I want to know the cause of death because this indeterminacy is ugly, but maybe that's a delayed way of putting away the fact that death is always going to be indeterminate by its nature because someone becomes finally unreachable. what a great, great artist. her films force us to see the everyday and when we find that torturous that disavowal is really interesting. devastating art making. as others have pointed out, funny and beautiful too. and the attention to the SOUND of everyday life in her work (like those train noises in Les Rendez Vous d'Anna) was always so strong. RIP.

What's the musical about the the shopping mall, Golden Eighties? I recommend that one.

I had completely forgotten that i saw her do that Almayer's Folly Q&A three years ago, which shows that ILX will be helpful as i dodder on.

the french press is quite clear it was suicide -- "s'est donné la mort" :(

claire denis has a testimony to akerman at the libération page. strange to remember that denis is (was) older than akerman. but their careers had dissimilar trajectories... denis was 40 before she finish her first feature. akerman was, famously, a major filmmaker by (at the latest) her early 20s.

Yes, they all word it exactly the same way, little room for doubt.

Here is page you are referring to, I think: http://next.liberation.fr/culture-next/2015/10/06/chantal-akerman-faisait-des-films-avec-sa-chair-sa-peau-sa-vie_1398256

the NYT article has been filled out with more information:

Friends said that Ms. Akerman had been in a dark emotional state after the death of her mother last year, and that she had had breakdowns. She had recently been hospitalized for depression, returning home to Paris 10 days ago, her sister said.

also reporting that cause is "unknown"

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/07/arts/chantal-akerman-belgian-filmmaker-dies-65.html

this might be of some broad relevance

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/mar/15/trauma-second-generation-holocaust-survivors

Right, just came to post that times link(xpost)

or this, rather

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/descendants-of-holocaust-survivors-have-altered-stress-hormones/

http://www.scientificamerican.com/sciam/assets/Image/MINDchart.jpg

RIP

Guess I'm not surprised that my uni library's copies of the Criterion set remain unchecked out (I was the last). Good night to re-watch News From Home.

there was a weird month in chicago, about a decade ago, when jeanne dielman was playing on different days, at three different venues, and i went each time. i think one of those was a weekday evening and i dozed off for a while, but i'm not sure akerman would mind.

as i mentioned elsewhere on ILXOR, i follow(ed) her on facebook and she seemed to a great extent like any slightly cantankerous aging baby boomer, posting about various social-media memes, complaining about the sorry state of american (and french) politics, sharing youtubes of rock music, etc.

I need to get on a lot more, only features i remember seeing besides JD are News From Home and Almayer's Folly.

I wrote in my brief blog obit that, contra Morbs, her work, because it presents work so rigorously, is best consumed while polishing tables and scrubbing floors.

Or, in the case of D'est, drifting in and out of sleep.

yeah there's nothing like 'watching' a film when your eyes aren't on the screen

that had better be the last time you make that philistinish boast. also fuck housework now and forever

i'd rather watch Delphine Seyrig do it

akerman did have some installation pieces, often reconfigured from her later films.

i'm not sure that her earlier films would really benefit from a kind of passive attention or fluctuating attention. they're pretty rigorously designed to have a /cumulative/ effect.

Morbs' apartment:

http://www.trashitman.com/img/Hoarders-Apartment-Cleanout-NY.JPG

my preferred aesthetic: "early Unabomber"

or perhaps "crazy cat lady in advanced stages of arthritis"?

she was at French Institute here last week? re this doc, now on Icarus disc

http://www.filmcomment.com/blog/over-there-chantal-akerman-presents-from-the-other-side-at-fiaf/

(mentioned by KJB six years upthread)

ok despite the date header of today, fc piece is from 2012

dumbfounded - rip Chantal

RIP

A bit gutted at the moment...most impactful celeb/famous person death for me in some time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=8pSNOEYSIlg

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/postscript-chantal-akerman

so The Captive, yes? Haven't seen it.

Nor I. Curious

It's been awhile, but I'd say yeah re:Captive.

Philippe Garrel ("bon voyage Chantal") and Dennis Lim both paid tribute before PG's film at NYFF tonight. About a quarter of the audience gasped; they hadn't heard. (Linc Ctr age demographic at work?)

There's a 1080p version of News From Home on YouTube...

Wonder what the Filmmaker in Residence will say about it tomorrow during her free talk?

who?

I wrote in my brief blog obit that, contra Morbs, her work, because it presents work so rigorously, is best consumed while polishing tables and scrubbing floors.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, October 6, 2015 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

In the context of a marginal (in the grand scheme of things most obits are going to focus on JD, which leaves another 30 years of film-making) figure who has just killed herself calling for a lack of attention and disguising as an oh so clever joke is tasteless.

Also don't think we should be speculating on reasons for the suicide.

vaguely recall having read how young she was when jeanne dielman was made, nonetheless thought she would have been quite a bit older than 65

RIP

― noɪˈɣiːələx (nakhchivan), Tuesday, October 6, 2015 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Akerman talked about how people were expecting someone a lot older to have made JD, and how some assumed that a man made it.

In the context of a marginal (in the grand scheme of things most obits are going to focus on JD, which leaves another 30 years of film-making) figure who has just killed herself calling for a lack of attention and disguising as an oh so clever joke is tasteless.

I don't see what one thing has to do with another, especially if you haven't read the post and the post is about the work, not the creator.

You clearly don't, that's what I said.

who?

Imagine writing an insouciant, brief take on one of the best filmmakers of the last half century, what apostasy.