Jeanne Dielman

"Jeanne Dielman ..." is a curious film. It's playing time is nearly 3,5 hours and all the action takes place in the last 10 minutes. This sounds awfully boring, but in the first place it's not that bad and in the second place the boredom is an essential element of the film.

Jeanne Dielman is a widow who lives in Brussels with her teenage son. Her days glide by in an endless routine. Even her remarks to her son at the dinner table ("don't read during the meal") are the same every day. Hitchcock once said: "film is just like daily life with the boring moments cut out of it". I am inclined to say that "Jaenne Dielman ... " is just like daily life with the exciting moments cut out of it, apart from the fact that there are no excting moments in the life of Jeanne Dielman. To make ends meet Jeanne receives men every day, but even this is part of her daily routine.

The film shows three days in the life of Jeanne Dielman. During the first day we get to know her daily routine. During the second day her client stays just a bit too long, so the potatoes are spoiled. Jeanne is visibly affected by this deviation from her daily routine. On the third day the storm finally breaks out.

Before I saw the film I thought "Jeanne Dielman ..." was above all a film about feminism, and there are feminist elements for sure. The boring life of a housewife, trading sex for money and last but not least the teenage son who treats his mother more or less as a servant (and Jeanne just lets it go).

After I saw the film I wonder if it is not also or even more about autism. Jeanne getting upset by something so trivial as potatoes cooking dry on the second day (which contains, in my opinion, the best acting of the whole film). Jeanne loses her temper even more during the visit of the third client on the third day. It is not 100% clear why, but a possible interpretation is that she was enjoying the sex that day and felt quilty about it.