Review of Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1976) by Jack G — 15 Jan 2010

You might remember how George Costanza on Seinfeld pitched to the NBC executives how his show would be about "NOTHING!" Well, folks, this movie could be considered that exactly. Or rather in the sense of 'what did you do today?' 'I got up and cleaned' 'There's a movie!' But Chantal Akerman's aim is not something very simple to peg down, and it's a unique, startling mix of minimalism, feminist critique, poetry, and a kind of intriguing sense of the lack of free will in a 'common' home like Jeanne's.

You have to stick with it- if you get through the first fifteen minutes without turning it off you should be good to go for the rest of the way- but its rewards are tantamount to an ultimate statement about the tragedy of ritual and monotony on the modern world, not just for women (though for them it's doubly troubling).

Few films can be called truly original, but this is one of them.