If you are not affiliated with a college or university, and are interested in watching this film, please register as an individual and login to rent this film. Already registered? Login to rent this film. This film is also available on our home streaming platform, OVID.tv.
When asked to participate in the Cinema, of Our Time series, Chantal Akerman jokingly suggested herself as subject matter. She envisioned a film consisting solely of excerpts from her films, but when pressed by the producers to include footage of herself, Akerman grudgingly agreed, and divided the film into two parts.
The first part opens with Akerman in her apartment, reading from a text directly to the camera, describing the problems she encountered making this film. What emerges from this mise-en-scene is a funny, often personal, and always thoughtful confession from this extremely perceptive filmmaker.
Part two lets Akerman's films speak for her, taking clips from her extensive filmography and linking them anonymously until they form a new film. There are scenes from Jeanne Dielman, her best-known film, but also glimpses of several other works - forays into experimental film, comedic shorts, musicals, narrative features - including an early short that stars a very young Chantal.
'One of the finest filmmakers working anywhere ... an excellent introduction to her work. A Must-See.' - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
'Recommended. If viewers can put aside their notions of what a documentary about a filmmaker is supposed to do, they will find that Chantal Akerman by Chantal Akerman offers a surprisingly illuminating introduction to Akerman's work.' - Educational Media Reviews Online
Akerman; Chantal Chantal Akerman; Feminism; Jeanne Dielman; Captive; Couch in New York; Night and Day ; Window Shopping ; Paris Seen By... 20 Years After ; I, You, She, He Je, Tu, Il, Elle; Beloved Child, or I Play at Being a Married Woman; self; portrait; documentary; film; video; gaze; woman; avant-garde; "Chantal Akerman by Chantal Akerman"; Icarus Films,doc,art,bio; history
WEBVTT
00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:18.000
[sil.]
00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:13.000
[sil.]
00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:20.000
[sil.]
00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:38.000
[music]
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
Orabi, (inaudible) always pass through a
village to get to the forest and there,
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
at a foot of a tree. And it was
always a same one. He began to pray
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
and God hurt him. His son too always
passed through the same village
00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
to get to the forest but he could
not remember where the tree was.
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.999
So he prayed to the food of any
oil tree and God hurt him.
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.999
His grandson did not know where
the tree was, nor the forest.
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
So he went to pray in the
village and God hurt him.
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.999
His great grandson did not know
where the tree was, nor the forest,
00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.999
not even the village but he still
knew the words of the prayer,
00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:39.999
so he prayed in his house and God heard him.
00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.999
His great grandson did not know
where the tree, nor the forest,
00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.999
nor the village way, not
even the word of the prayer,
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
but he still knew the story, so he told
it to his children and God hurt him.
00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
[sil.]
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.999
My own story is full of missing
links, full of blanks.
00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:09.999
And I do not even have a child.
00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:18.000
[sil.]
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:33.000
[music]
00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:13.000
[sil.]
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:23.000
[sil.]
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:13.000
[sil.]
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:55.000
[sil.]
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:08.000
[music]
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:08.000
[sil.]
00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:23.000
[sil.]
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:58.000
[sil.]
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:08.000
[music]
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:53.000
[sil.]
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:20.000
[sil.]
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:23.000
[sil.]
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:15.000
[sil.]
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:28.000
[sil.]
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:43.000
[sil.]
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:08.000
[music]
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
What a beautiful night tonight.
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
What’s so beautiful about this night?
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
[music]
00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
I don’t see anything beautiful.
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
[music]
00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
See, you’ll not see, as long as you hear.
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
Are you hearing your thoughts?
00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
I have no thoughts.
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
Neither do I!
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:33.000
[sil.]
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
What are you doing here? I’m waiting.
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
What are you waiting for? There’s
nothing to wait for in this world.
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
Are you dancing? Are you asking?
I’m asking. I’m dancing.
