Funnily enough, for an over three hours long film, I was only genuinely bored or irritated throughout its last thirty minutes or so. The overall concept of the film, is to display on "the first day", the toxic practises of Jeanne Dielman, "the second day" is meant to showcase a sudden crack in them, while "the final day" is the total decay of such lifestyle. The first two days of Dielman's routinary way of living, were brilliantly constructed, and the transition from one to the other is done with enough changes and subtleties, that escalate the tension, and appropriately portray the slow decay of our main character. I'm actually not sure if it's even fair to call Jeanne Dielman a character, since by the end of the movie, I felt as if I barely knew anything about her. This may be intentional, since she probably represents a void person who's unable to think beyond their daily routines. The decision to strip her from any specific characteristics, isn't one I like, but I still wouldn't have it any other way either, so that's conflicting.
The repeating aspects of the film (for the most part) actually didn't take anything away from my experience, since as I said, there are multiple changes and subtleties scattered around, which in a way amuse the viewer. I also think it immensely helped, to start out the first day midway through, as opposed to from the beginning. It's a pretty good decision by Chantal Akerman, which showcases how uninterested she is in being different just because, but rather with a purpose. She is a women whom I've researched, read about, and was very interested in, way before I got around to any of her work. So to say I was amped up to finally check out her most acclaimed film, would definitely be an understatement. Regardless of my upcoming "criticisms", I came out of Dielman's apartment very pleased with what I got.
Let's rapidly talk about Delphine Seyrig first, since she is pretty much the whole movie. I really enjoy when one can perfectly tell, whatever is internally occurring in a character's head, just by studying their face and body language. That is Mrs. Seyrig's sublime "performance". I was seriously expecting her at any sudden point, to blow up, scream, break whatever is near her vicinity, because of her powerful portrayal of suppression and emptiness. We're talking about a woman, who on paper, does the exact same ordinary habits, throughout what we see of her bleak life. But Delphine brings nuances to her character's actions, making them more interesting than they appear, and dare I say it, more entertaining.
As for the last 30 minutes of the film, I actually suddenly found the happenings to be very lazy and uncreative. I'm not very sure of the reason why the latter half of "the final day" didn't work for me too, maybe it's because the repetitions became stale and lacking of enough substance, or maybe it's because of the scene with her and the baby, which really got under my skin, and annoyed the hell outta me. Not to mention, having Jeanne Dielman sit on a chair for over 5 minutes, seems like such a cop-out to me. It's the usual artsy fartsy bull****, that moviegoers of the opposite spectrum make fun of, and rightfully so. Even after saying that, I still have conflicting feelings, because an argument can also be made, about how I'm contradicting myself, in expressing the dullness of the final act, when in reality, there isn't that big of a difference between the last 30 minutes, or the multiple ones that came before it. I'm also commending Delphine's acting, and how "I was expecting her at any sudden point, to blow up, scream, break whatever is near her vicinity", when this kind of impression is actually more present during the last act than ever.
The overall point is, I don't know, and feelings are hard to comprehend. I do know why I didn't like what I didn't like, but I don't know why it's contradictory to why I liked what I liked. Look at me being artsy and fartsy with my unending thoughts. I guess my writing is an unintentional metaphor of the actual movie. One thing I'm sure of that downright soured my experience, is the ending (the bedroom scene). Sorry, but that was so stupid and sloppy, in concept and execution. It's another cop-out. What a poor climax, to an otherwise, very rich film.
⭐⭐⭐