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Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

Three days in the life of the single mother and prostitute Jeanne Dielman from Brussels. Her life is monotonous and uneventful. Groundbreaking masterpiece by Chantal Akerman.

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Deze voorstelling maakt deel uit van Rialto Filmclub met als gastspreker deze maand Ernst-Jan Pfauth.

Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

Influential Belgian director Chantal Akerman (1950-2015) challenged the "hierarchy of images": Why should an image of say a car accident be seen as more interesting than one of washing dishes? Why does the spectacular prevail over the mundane in the film idiom? Could it be because the mundane is associated with women's lives? In Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, a film that earned her critical acclaim, Akerman makes a feminist statement by showing three days in the mundane life of a woman in long uninterrupted shots.

The young widow Jeanne Dielman (Delphine Seyrig) and her son Sylvain live on the quai du Commerce in Brussels. Jeanne's days are dull: following a monotonous daily recurring routine she cleans, she cooks, and she takes care of her son. In the afternoon, while Sylvain is at school, she entertains gentleman callers in her bedroom to earn some money. Eventually, her routine starts to show cracks.