Video: Jeanne Dielman Making Meatloaf
The 1975 film Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman follows the rote daily routine of single mother Jeanne Dielman over three days, with a focus on housework. Naturally, that includes a significant amount of food preparation. Not having seen the movie, I'm taking the New York Times movie critic Vincent Canby's word for it:
It's also not a movie to see on an empty stomach. At various points in the film the camera watches Jeanne as she cooks. Without cutting away or using any other ellipses, the movie attends to Jeanne's cooking as if it were a documentary, showing us how she prepares, among other things, what seems to be a succulent meat loaf and paperthin, breaded, veal cutlets. At the film's end, I was both moved and starved.
This nearly three and a half-minute meatloaf scene (accompanied only by the sounds of squishing meat) isn't necessarily hunger-inducing, but it does stick with you as a stark look into the monotony of a woman's life. Watch the video after the jump.
Jeanne Dielman Making Meatloaf
The Criterion Collection put up this video as a call to entries for their Jeanne Dielman cooking video contest running until September 28. View more details at criterion.com
Bonus Video: Jeanne Dielman Peeling Potatoes
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9 Comments:
random! one of my other favorite sites just did a review of this movie:
http://fourfour.typepad.com/fourfour/2009/08/the-real-housewife.html#more
gastronomeg at 1:40PM on 09/08/09
I take issue with the first video being a reflection of the "stark monotony of a woman's life." Now, being a single mother who takes the time to make meals from scratch isn't a difficulty I can relate to. But the video doesn't show those challenges; all it shows is a woman making a meatloaf. It looks very therapeutic to me. I'm a stay-at-home mom who cooks and I love what I do; otherwise I wouldn't do it. Instead, I'd use my law degree, become a wage slave, and hire a nanny.
sorahatch at 3:36PM on 09/08/09
@gastronomeg: Haha, thanks for the link! Now I don't have to watch the movie; that play-by-play tells me everything...
@sorahatch: Since I hadn't seen the movie, I looked up a few reviews/articles to get an idea of what it's about. And after reading them (like this one), I didn't really associate Jeanne's actions with being therapeutic. Not to say that they can't be; I'm just thinking of this instance.
Robyn Lee at 3:56PM on 09/08/09
@roboppy, Right, I'm just looking at the clip taken out of context.
sorahatch at 5:03PM on 09/08/09
She's mixing that meatloaf way too much.
deetroitMI at 6:28PM on 09/08/09
deetroitMI is right; maybe it is therapeutic. But the meatloaf itself will suffer from that much smooshing. It will be too dense.
Likeswords at 6:36PM on 09/08/09
@deetroitMI i was thinking the same thing! lol!
Shr1mpch1p at 7:45PM on 09/08/09
Therapeutic? Both these clips make me tense--she herself seems so tense, and it's like the more she goes, the worse it gets. I've watched many people cook "with love," and in my opinion, that ain't it.
OneWallKitchen at 2:40AM on 09/10/09
@deetroitMI: I know, right?
@OneWallKitchen: Yeah I've never seen someone so unhappy to be making meatloaf.
marchpane at 11:33AM on 09/12/09