Review of Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1976) by Cj C — 28 Mar 2010

Saw as a film student and was warned that it would be a tough three hours and 20 minutes. In fact, I think the tutor told us it was 6 hours long, so we were all overjoyed to realised it was actually half that, when it ended.

I can't really say I enjoyed it, but we did talk about it again and again for a long time aftwards. If that's how you judge a film's worth - it's power to provoke a debate - then it's a winner and I understand why critics loved this.

The ten minute scene where the static camera watches Jeanne peeling potatoes in real time is about as far from anything mainstream cinema throws at you as it is possible to find. It's clever in that the more bored you get, the more the message of this film is getting through.