In Praise (or Not) of Chantal Akerman

Excellent Sunday fare.

yes!

Wow. Thank you, that was a wonderful post to read!

Thanks, just trying to put stuff down.

I've been thinking of the different fates of sex worker/oppression-y films in the S&S top 100.

- Dielman as no1
- Wanda making it to the top 100 (not explicitly about a sex worker, but there is something here of a working class woman having v limited options to survive)
- In the Realm of the Senses: not being in the top 250 is a big miss. It isn't about sex work as such but it details a working class woman and her ways of survival. Oshima is a male director, and there is sex in this that is more pleasing to the gaze, but I don't feel he is judging her. There is a world here. I should re-watch, it's one of my favourite films.
- I also love Belle du Jour but it's not a favourite Bunuel. There is other Bunuel in the top 250 but not El, which really would fall in quite well alongside some of these films.

Also a film called Taxi Driver that deals with some of that fairly brutally.

I love Taxi Driver but I'm not so sure it belongs. Feels like that serve as more of an element in the psychodrama that's going on around Bickle.

Blind Spot (Von Alemann, 1981)

This film was on MUBI a few days ago. It's much less interesting as a narrative of a feminist researcher but there were so many great shots worthy of Ackerman. The corridors, the narrow streets, the spacious rooms, the corners, the restaurant. I recommend it as a follow-up

Blu Box:

https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/7045-chantal-akerman-masterpieces-19681978