[on shooting
Jeanne Dielman (1975)] Chantal [
Chantal Akerman] was very clear about the character and the character had nothing to do with who
Delphine Seyrig was, who plays Jeanne Dielman. Really the opposite of Bresson [
Robert Bresson] who cast somebody who looked the part in order to shape that person as if they were clay so he could do with them what he wished. In a film you need to have the stylization of a certain distance, Chantal knew that. Film is not realism. It's not neorealism. Delphine was perfect for the role: first she was a great actress and she had the intelligence of knowing how you communicated the drama, the unfolding and break down of a woman. It's not melodrama, it's a woman who is unsettled and falling apart.
