Woe to the casual film-goer who might not be familiar with the work of Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman who died this week.
Her often experimental films are just the kind of fare that NY Times film critic A.O. Scott celebrated in a recent essay, "Film Snob? Is That So Wrong?"
Akerman was lauded for revolutionizing cinema by creating films "often experimental and without concessions." Her landmark work, 1975's three-hour-plus "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles," depicted in real time the drab routines of a Belgian housewife forced into prostitution to make money. There are no fast edits, no Sorkin-like dialogue, no meet-cutes.
For all those reasons, Scott loves it. He writes "I like my pleasures slow and difficult. I would rather watch a mediocre film from South America or Eastern Europe about the sufferings of poor people than a mediocre Hollywood comedy about the inconveniences of the affluent."
When it comes to movie culture, proclivities of extremes seem to mirror politics of the day. The Scotts of the world would veto popcorn-fare entirely, and the populists cannot abide subtitles, black & white, nor documentary. Where do you fall?
Guests:
Andy Klein, Film Critic for KPCC and the LA Times Community Newspaper Chain
Amy Nicholson, Film Critic for KPCC and Chief Film Critic, LA Weekly