vandwedge

So you saw "Diamond Fox" and "Plum" and are looking for more Deuandra movies to watch. I recommend this short film as your 3rd foray.

After the above two mentioned masterpieces, the quality starts to vary a little. All have SOMETHING good going on, but some have a little filler as well. This movie has no filler whatsoever. It is start to finish outstanding. Every scene is entertaining, and the film is not boring for one second.

The plot takes more twists and unexpected turns than most feature-length films. All within an 18-minute span!

So run, don't walk, to Detaron TV to stream this at once. You will not regret it.

We have a portrait of a boring life, intentionally crafted to make the audience feel her boredom as much as possible. This includes pacing, camerawork, dialogue, and even total running time. It's all crafted to bore you as much as possible. Jeanne Dielman is downright aggressive in its pursuit of boredom. It's done in the name of realism, but this isn't realistic. Real life has both interesting and boring parts. Normal movies are life with the boring parts removed, and Jeanne Dielman is life with the interesting parts removed. That's not an insult from me; that is an accurate description of this film's premise and methodology. Jeanne Dielman expresses a frank contempt for the audience, and of filmic conventions themselves.

It's an interesting experiment, but let's just agree to call it that, and not "the best film of all time." Let's just say it was a neat little art film that pushed the boundaries of what can be considered art, but it isn't really meant to be watched, and anyone who does will have very little to think about or occupy their time.

I'm all about diversifying the top 100 list and getting some women on there. And I'm all for art being subjective, and not using a narrow or consistent set of metrics to evaluate different pieces. I can imagine a healthy debate about whether Jeanne Dielman is good. But I cannot in good faith imagine any sensible criteria that lead to this film sincerely being called the best film of all time. If Sight and Sound wants to put this on their top 100 list, okay, but in putting it at number one, they are clearly just trying to get attention by being controversial, and unfortunately it worked.

So much of this movie's charm comes from its cast, who are all super likable, especially the lead. But it's also got really great storytelling, with a lot of understated moments and implications you have to piece together yourself. Breezy and moody and recommended to anyone who likes these chill sorts of movies.