News from Home

This is a seminal work by Akerman that re-examines the relationship between camera and voice - the documented and the personal, expressing the spirit of mid 1970s New York.

Sometimes the most simple and unlikely of ideas are among the best. At first glance this doesn't sound like much, or at least not the type of picture one would customarily flock to: long shots of various locations in New York, accompanied by voiceovers. Yet there's a deep, gratifying elegance and heartfelt sincerity in this that's unmistakable. Straightforward as the lengthy and mostly unmoving shots are, there's an artistry to Babette Mangolte's cinematography that's entrancing, as this very particular perspective on the Big Apple makes it feel fresh and new, almost like a series of paintings. The imagery of urban sights is unexpectedly beautiful, whether of its own accord or thanks to Mangolte's keen eye, in a way that we tend not to see (or allow ourselves to see) on a day to day basis. And that's before we even consider one of the chief truths of this documentary - that as much as anything else it's a snapshot of New York in the 1970s, and moreover a kind of time capsule. Perhaps some of the structures, facades, and infrastructure remain the same, perhaps not, but between the vehicles or people who cross in front of the camera and their clothes, the shops and ads that greet our eyes, and in some measure even the ambient sounds to greet our ears, we're getting a glimpse of a specific place at a specific time, and it's a minor joy on that basis alone. One is naturally reminded of Agnès Varda's 'Daguerréotypes,' incidentally also released in 1976, and for as enchanting as that was it's a very high compliment indeed.

Then there's the other core element of 'News from home,' the voiceovers of filmmaker Chantal Akerman. As she reads letters that she had received from her mother we also get a small taste of life in Belgium at the time, and especially of the friends, family, and neighbors that Akerman herself had known. More than that - as the letters date to the period when Akerman had lived in New York, often traversing these very streets and subway lines, we are party in some measure to the relationship between her and her mother. The title becomes not just a moment captured in time of the city, but a reflection on a parent's love for their child, of wistfully missing someone who is far away, and in the very least of thinking of Home when we've gone far afield. (Or perhaps, too, a peek at the unspoken disparity between the perspectives of parent and child.) Thus is an air of fond remembrance infused into the presentation, a gentle warmth that couples neatly with the nostalgia of writing letters and the audiovisual visitations to this one time and place. The result is plainly lovely, bewitching, and even heartwarming to some degree. Why, there's almost a sense of whimsy to it all; one can readily imagine a work of fantasy or science fiction that adopts the same tack, showing us a distant world or landscape while letters from home provide a kernel of living, breathing story, whether it's a fragment of narrative or, as in this case, soft emotional context. That such feelings can be evoked by these eighty-eight minutes speaks very well to the power of cinema generally and, here, to the underappreciated genius of Akerman as a filmmaker.

I'll be honest: I love this. Plainspoken as any one-line synopsis is I didn't truly know what to anticipate, but in no time at all after I sat to watch I came to adore it. Many are the movies that have been made about someone moving to The Big City, and missing home, and all the goings-on or misadventures they might get up to in that scenario, but such fare is always embellished for effect, whether comedic or dramatic. Inasmuch as there could be a comparison to such fictional works 'News from home' is much the same concept, except it's perfectly Real and Authentic, and stirs the viewer's thoughts and feelings with that genuineness alone. Outwardly unsophisticated as the craft may be, the skill, intelligence, and care that went into it is indisputable, and the end product speaks for itself. This film is a pleasure. I vaguely assumed I'd appreciate it just for Akerman's involvement alone, and still I'm so very happy with how excellent it really is. By all means I can understand how this won't appeal to all, though as far as that goes the premise should be all the fair warning needed to turn away those who aren't receptive. Yet for viewers who enjoy the quiet, thoughtful side of the medium, or those who find joy in the mundane, I can't overstate what a great treasure this is. 'News from home' is a sublime picture that strikes a rather unique but meaningful chord, and I'm glad to give it my very high, hearty recommendation.

News from Home (1977) was written, narrated, and directed by Chantal Akerman.

Chantal Akerman left her home in Brussels for New York City when she was 20 years old. She lived in NYC for three years. She made some experimental films, and then returned to Brussels. She directed her masterpiece, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles in 1975. When she returned to NYC, she returned to her old haunts and made a movie of some of the areas in which she had lived before she was famous.

This film, News from Home, is a series of long takes of scenes in the city. It couldn't have been easy, but she managed to avoid a single striking image of the New York.

Sometimes the camera is still, and we see people walking by. Other times, we peer into deserted diners (think Edward Hopper). Sometimes she records from a moving vehicle. Other times from a subway station platform and then from inside a graffiti-tagged subway car. The last scene shows water--probably shot from the Staten Island ferry.

Think of Rick Steves New York, and then turn around 180 degrees and you get Chantal Akerman's New York. People barely notice her and her cameraperson. She barely notices them.

There's no dialog. There are traffic sounds, but apparently they were dubbed in after the movie was made. What we have instead is Akerman reading letters that her mother sent to her in the early 1970's. The content of the letters fall roughly into three parts: urging Akerman to write and complaining when she doesn't; news from home; desire of her mother that she come back to Brussels.

When Akerman reads the letters, her mother comes across as childish and somewhat pathetic. However, remember that her 20-year-old daughter is living 3,700 miles away, with no steady source of income, and without a working knowledge of English.

As a parent, I say, "Why didn't you write home more often when it meant so much to your mother?" "Why didn't you visit your uncle who lived in New York?" "Why would you want to make this movie?"

There are no breathtaking vistas in this film, so it worked well on the small screen. News from Home has a strong IMDb rating of 7.5. Here's a case where I say, "Did they see the same movie I saw?"

This film came as part of the Criterion Eclipse Series 19-Chantal Akerman in the Seventies. Besides News from Home, this three-DVD set included La Chambre (1972), Hotel Monterey (1972), Je Tu Il Elle (1975), and Les Rendezvous D'Anna (1978). I've reviewed all of them for IMDb.

Chantal Akerman is arguably the most important and interesting female director of her era, yet she is sadly under-known here in the U.S. The range of her work is astounding, from largely experimental 'difficult' works like this, to frothy musical-comedy, to dark, thoughtful dramas, and just about everything in between. I'm so glad Criterion is finally putting out much of her early work.

As for this film, it's an interesting experiment, if far from Akerman's most important.

It's all images of New York City, mostly still at first, with ever more movement as it goes along. The soundtrack is all letters to Ackerman from her mother in France being read aloud over the images. Odd as it sounds, it easily held my attention, though never really got emotionally involving. Once again, Akerman's city images are great, evoking Edward Hopper's paintings. But both the images and overall impact seem less powerful to me than Akerman's somewhat similar - and to my taste far better -- 'Hotel Monterey'.

However with this kind of experimental film, everyone is likely to react differently, and I'd urge you to see it for yourself.

Chantal Akerman was a young Belgian woman who had come to America to make movies. Unfortunately for her, she moved to New York City at a very low point in its history: the Summer of 1976. The Summer of Sam. The year of "Ford to City: Drop Dead." Graffiti everywhere. Burned out buildings. Garbage. Heat. Blackouts.

Chantal's camera records all this squalor in exquisite, non-judgmental long takes. You can almost smell the place. Somehow, the city arranges itself for her in fascinating compositions of color, personalities, and activities. What's that guy over there doing? What is that woman thinking about?

In counterpoint to the visuals, Chantal reads irritating letters from her beloved mother complaining that Chantel does not write frequently enough and When is she coming home? But how could she come home when there is such rich, baroque subject matter for her camera? We know that after her mother died several years later, Chantal committed suicide. The tension between her mother's letters and the power of the city is palpable.

Chantal has left us this gift of a precise record of a time and place that existed once and will not exist again. The final extremely long shot, taken evidently from the Staten Island ferry, is of Manhattan with its Twin Towers still present slowly receding and disappearing in the mist.