Giving Some Love to UNDERRATED CHRISTMAS SONGS

 Yeah...I love Christmas...

Despite often being somewhat of a cynical and relatively pessimistic human being...or as I like to think of myself, a realist...I do tend to find a lot of joy in the holiday season.

Last year, I made a list of 10 of my favorite Christmas songs.

A link to that can be found below!

My Top 10 Favorite Christmas Songs

However, this year, I decided that I wanted to shine a little bit of starlight onto 10 Christmas songs that don't get the attention they deserve.

I usually start listening to my Holiday Playlists in November because they give me a lot of joy...and each year, I often find myself loving certain songs that never get the kind of airplay and notability that something like...say...a Mariah Carey tune off of her Merry Christmas album might get.

Though, to be fair, that is a pretty tall order to try to meet.

At any rate, I did want to single out 10 Christmas songs that I really love that don't have the iconic stamp of approval on them.

Some of these might still be considered fairly known to some, but I don't see them getting as many covers today. And lastly, these are in no particular order.

THE LIST! 

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Everyone's a Kid at Christmastime 

By Stevie Wonder

Coming from the Someday at Christmas album, "Everyone's a Kid at Christmastime" is one of two songs from the album (the other is coming up later on) that I have always loved that didn't get as much attention as the title track or "What Christmas Means to Me".

With a nice driving beat and a jubilant soulful tone, I have always preferred this one to "What Christmas Means to Me".

In the end though, it is Stevie Wonder. Everything he does is worth listening to.

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Cold December Night

By Michael Bublé

Michael Bublé's Christmas album is one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century and he does tackle many classic songs on the album

However, one standout is his charming little diddy about finding love during the holidays. 

There is nothing but a warm fuzzy feeling I get when I hear the bells in the intro.

I feel the melody and the arrangement are what truly sell the song. I don't find it to be anything remarkable from a lyrical standpoint...but whatever, it all comes together nicely.

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Caroling, Caroling

By Nat King Cole

As one of the songs featured on my top 10 list year, "Caroling, Caroling" may not be on the same level as the iconic "Christmas Song", but I can't deny that something about hearing that choral intro of "Ding, dong, ding, dong, Christmas bells are ringing!" always pulls me in.

It also doesn't hurt that Nat King Cole is one of my favorite singers of all time.

This is also one of those songs where I feel like no one really covered it and anytime I do hear it get any airplay, it is Cole's version.

I do recall it was sampled on one of Perry Como's Christmas albums but beyond that, it does seem to sort of rest solely within the legendary repertoire of Nat King Cole.

And I think that's okay.

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Christmas Island

By The Andrews Sisters & Bing Crosby

I remember "Christmas Island" as being one of the songs featured in the legendary Readers' Digest Merry Christmas Songbook...and it did seem to get many covers from artists in the mid-20th century. 

Even recently, Kristin Chenoweth covered it on her pretty solid holiday album.

Having said that, I do find a certain charm to the song and think it taps into that "Christmas in a tropical climate" motif that I am not normally into (and neither is Kevin Mccalister) and yet, I still get drawn to it...similar to "Mele Kalikimaka".

Although, as much as I like that song, I have always considered this one to be my favorite of the "tropical" holiday tunes.

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Christmas Day

By The Beach Boys

Speaking of tropical climates, The Beach Boys did release a Christmas album of their own but to be honest, I am not much of a fan of it.

The crazy thing about The Beach Boys as a group is that most of their music rested solely on the vocal and musical arrangements (which were mainly connected to Brian Wilson)...and as performers, they certainly lacked the charisma of their contemporaries like The Beatles or The Rolling Stones.

From their Christmas album, the song "Little Saint Nick" seems to have gotten more of the airplay and notoriety, but it is "Christmas Day" that I took to.

There is such a sweet innocence to it, and it is one of my favorite efforts by Wilson.

I also really love She & Him's cover, which made me rediscover the song a few years ago.

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A Warm Little Home on a Hill

 By Stevie Wonder

As I mentioned earlier, we would be returning back to Stevie Wonder's Someday at Christmas album.

Perhaps even less familiar than "Everyone's a Kid at Christmastime", there is something almost transcendent about "A Warm Little Home on a Hill".

Perhaps it is a bit crazy to say, but something about the arrangement and the lyrics and the performance of Wonder just place me right into the cozy little world of the song.

It is a bit sweet and sentimental, but I just think it works really well...and I wish more people would give it credit.

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Must Be Santa

By Mitch Miller

As a song that got a lot of attention when Bob Dylan covered it with a certain peppy glee that seemed a lot unlike him, I discovered "Must Be Santa" as a kid in Elementary School who had to sing it in my music class and then at my 2nd grade Christmas Assembly.

For several years after, I never heard anyone reference the song again until I randomly thought of it and wanted to look up its history.

That was when I discovered the joyous and very cheesy original rendition by Mitch Miller...completely drenched in its 60s choral glory.

Not the most in-depth song on this list, but it will always be a sentimental favorite of mine.

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Jesus, Born on this Day

By Mariah Carey

I am not sure you can call any of the songs on Carey's Merry Christmas album anywhere near the definition of "underrated", but considering the legend that surrounds "All I Want for Christmas is You", I actually find "Jesus, Born on this Day" to have very wistful and beautiful quality that made it stand out to me even as a young kid when my mom would blare the album every Saturday morning during the holidays throughout the 90s.

I did take to "Jesus! Oh What a Wonderful Child!" as a kid because its "take me to church" finale spoke to me as someone who grew up in a fire and brimstone Pentecostal church...but this is one of those songs that when it comes on, I never end up skipping it.

It is also a beautiful vocal performance by Carey who is rather restrained and reserved by her standards.

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The Magic of Christmas Day (God Bless Everyone)

By Celine Dion

Speaking of mother's blaring Christmas albums on Saturday mornings in the 90s, here comes Celine Dion. 

In the holiday season after a year of being prominent for singing a song from this film about young lovers on some ship that sank, Celine Dion released a Christmas album that my mother also adored.

A few of the songs really stood out to me at the time like "Don't Save it All for Christmas Day" and "Another Year Has Gone By" but perhaps the one that really got me was "The Magic of Christmas Day", which built up some of a legend as it was written by Dee Snider (best known as Twisted Sister) for his wife to perform.

Instead, Dion managed to make the song more famous...though it still isn't a song I think many address as being a classic.

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Underneath the Tree

By Kelly Clarkson

I really debated putting this one here as I feel like it is still so new, and it does get a fair amount of attention.

However, I am putting it here because I think it deserves to have some of the same fanfare that Mariah Carey gets...and, to be completely candid, I love this song more than I do "All I Want for Christmas is You".

I think "Underneath the Tree" manages to really capture the tone and feel of the Phil Spector "Wall of Sound" that you can hear on his legendary "A Christmas Gift for You" album.

Even though the album is (understandably) named after the track Wrapped in Red, I think this song is the easy stand-out...although the song "Winter Dreams" is quite charming, too.

And yes, Kelly Clarkson can sing all day long and I'll never tire of it!

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AND LASTLY:

For those who made it this far, I will just leave it at this -

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays & a Happy New Year!

SOMEBODY'S GETTING CANCELLED - My Review of Todd Field's TAR: Starring Cate Blanchett

**I will discuss certain plot points of Tar, but I will make sure to include Spoiler Warnings when the time comes**

Not every filmmaker has a desire to churn out a new film every year...or every other year...or every five years. Terrence Malick had a gap of 20 years between Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line...and Todd Field came close with his latest effort.

Todd Field's Tar is his first film in 16 years following Little Children...and even that film was his first in five years following In the Bedroom.

In the Bedroom got Best Picture, Screenplay, and acting bids while Little Children managed to get acting and screenplay nominations, so his small track record does show promise.

As of this review, Tar is on track to get a Best Picture nomination and its star, Cate Blanchett, is an early frontrunner to win what would be her 3rd Oscar, putting her in prestigious company with the likes of Meryl Streep and Ingrid Bergman.

When looking at a movie like Tar, the trailer left me immensely intrigued.

It showed enough to pull you in based on very stark images and a certain palpable intensity. All of the released plot descriptions talked about how this was a film that would show the downfall of a well-respected and world-renowned composer/conductor...but that was it...not much else was said otherwise.

A fictional character, Lydia Tar (Cate Blanchett) has basically had a staggering career that one could hope to achieve in her field. She is a member of the elite EGOT club, and she conducted with many prominent orchestras within the US such as Cleveland, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York.

She is now the first female conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic.

Using the method of a having her accomplishments listed via an interview intro by Adam Gopnik of The New Yorker, we know right out of the gate that this is a woman who has achieved great success...even if it does come across as a massive avalanche of exposition being thrown at us.

And now, as what she will consider the capstone of her career, she has announced that she will be conducting Mahler's 5th Symphony. 

We also meet two very key women who are a part of Lydia's life:

Her assistant Francesca, played by the lovely Naomie Merlant from Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Sharon (played by German actress Nina Hoss), who is a concertmaster who also just so happens to be Lydia's wife.

So yes, Lydia Tar is a lesbian...or as she calls herself, "a U-Haul Lesbian", which she brings up during a guest lecture at Julliard while she was in town for The New Yorker Festival.

The lecture seems to be going very well, but she seems to take a particular interest in Max, who identifies as "a BIPOC pangender". At first, they seem to have a sort of mutual admiration, but it slowly dissipates when Max has a rather negative opinion on composer Johann Sebastian Bach. While sitting on a piano bench with Lydia, Max's leg bounces up and down as a tic which is noticeable throughout the whole scene. Max's leg bounces as he proclaims he would never want to conduct any music written by white cis men who were said to be purely misogynist, like Bach. Before she says her retort, she 

slams her hand on his leg to get him to stop and proceeds to delicately belittle him. 

Despite Lydia being a member of the LGBTQ+ community...not to mention being a woman in a very prominent role...she doesn't seem to want to play into the idea of identity politics. This leads Max to call her a bitch and he leaves the lecture.

She calmly accosts him on the way out and proclaims: "If you want to dance the mass, you must serve the composer".

And that is a line that echos throughout the film, except Lydia might view it as certain people must serve try to serve the conductor.

Let's get into SPOILER TERRITORY now:

The film's treatment on the ideas of identity politics and cancel culture has made some people angry, with perhaps the most prominent example coming from, ironically enough, The New Yorker.

In his review from the magazine, Richard Brody deemed Tar as a regressive film. 

His main points were:

"It is a regressive film that takes a bitter aim at so-called cancel culture and lampoons so-called identity politics" while going on to accuse the film of "conservative button-pushing" that gives the film a truly dire aesthetic.

Lydia Tar does get "canceled" as it is discovered that she often used her clout to help women in exchange for sexual favors.

Things become truly tense when it is discovered that a young woman named Krista, who was trying so desperately to remain within Lydia's world, commits suicide and pens a damning note that basically incriminates Lydia in her heinous actions. 

 

Lydia asks Francesca to please delete any correspondence to show that Lydia may have had a questionable relationship or even much interaction in general with Krista.

In one scene, Lydia suspects that Francesca didn't do as she asked and ends up sneaking onto her email and finding that she never did.

From here, the movie descends into making sure Lydia Tar will be destroyed...or rather "canceled".

What about the accusations though? How much of this affects the film?

Well, I am going to turn to Richard Brody again for this: 

"The movie scoots rapidly by the accusations that she faces; it blurs the details, eliminates the narratives, merely sketches hearings, leaves crucial events offscreen, and offers a calculated measure of doubt, in order to present her accusers as unhinged and hysterical and the protesters gathered against her as frantic and goofy. Moreover, it depicts her as the victim of another attack, one that is based on blatant falsehoods, but that, in the wake of the other accusations, gains traction in the media."

Here is where I start to waffle on my own opinions...because unlike Brody, I am not necessarily sure that Lydia is presented as a victim. Although, I do agree that the film does sort of breeze by certain developments that I personally feel would've given a stronger structural core. 

Then again, this is also what can be so wonderful about film analysis/criticism. Brody sees the film as one way while I am not entirely sure I agree with all of his sentiments.

Do I think Lydia is portrayed as a victim?

This is where I am inclined to want to watch the movie again and try my best to overthink the opinions of others and take away what I feel the film is giving us.

 

My first inclination is, actually, no. I don't think she is a victim...but if the film makes me have an inkling of sympathy for her, it is simply because Cate Blanchett is just that compelling an actress.

As it stands though, I think some "cancel culture" IS problematic and can be rather conservative in its own subversive way...but despite the limited scope shown of the accusations towards Lydia, we seem to get that she used her clout to target women she wanted to sleep with. That's enough for me to make me view her as someone who has issues and deserves comeuppance.

And she gets that comeuppance.

Her wife Sharon leaves her and she takes their adopted daughter Petra with her. In one scene, we watch Lydia try to intervene to talk to Petra as she leaves school but Sharon rushes in to pull her away. She is cutting Lydia entirely out of their lives and Lydia begs "Please don't do this!"

However, I didn't view the moment as the film sympathizing with her. I think it was a case of me appreciating the layers that Blanchett was able to add to the scene...and if anything, I sort of liked watching this blow up in her face because Sharon was right in her own actions of feeling truly betrayed by Lydia.

Although, one moment of the film, which is presented as uncomfortably funny/awkward, might be my favorite acted moment of Blanchett's career.

Lydia opens the door to find the adult children of her neighbor who passed away...they are looking to sell her apartment. Lydia is still in despair from her life but does show remorse to them at first. They mention the loud music playing, which Lydia assumes they were complimenting, and she proceeds to shut the door. Instead, they stop her and ask if they can try to figure out the time frame of which she'd be playing music because they'd want potential clients to come when she is NOT playing music.

Lydia, with music being her life, is baffled. This is the only thing she has so she almost instantly starts to tear up while also mockingly laughing at the group at what is seemingly their poor taste. She just says "Oh, we wouldn't that!" while shutting the door in their faces. 

We then cut to a quiet shot of her apartment and then she suddenly appears scream singing while playing an accordion "Apartment for sale! Your mother is buried!" among other relatively inappropriate phrases.

Blanchett is a master. While having a history with music such as playing the piano, she studying to learn how to conduct and the skills to make it convincing. Watching her conduct in this movie has the same sort of intensity similar to that watching Ed Harris paint in Pollock.

Her energy, even when it is at its most subtle, is rather ferocious. We do get those moments where the lion within in her comes out, such as when she attacks her former protégé Eliot (Mark Strong) as he prepares to conduct Mahler's symphony in her stead...or the previously mentioned scream singing of "Apartment for sale!". 

Blanchett manages to make this woman a truly compelling character and while she is someone I am sure I would never want to meet in reality, I was fascinated to watch her onscreen. 

Going back to the film itself...

At the end of the film, we see that Lydia has managed to find a way to maintain working but perhaps not in the most glamorous of locales. She is now conducting the score for a video game in front of an entire auditorium filled with cosplayers. 

People have debated what exactly Todd Field was trying to go for here...especially considering the name of the video game is Monster Hunter.

Some feel that the message is saying that perhaps the idea of "hunting" down and cancelling famous people is just as horrible an act in its own right...as if we are depriving society of a great artist.

Some have viewed it as just an ironic way to show that Lydia has fallen and the heroic act of the people who brought her down puts her right in line with the monster within the game.

I was more inclined to view it with the latter...but then again, I think I want to view the movie a second time.

If I were to watch it again and have a different opinion, I will follow up for sure.

As it stands, my immediate reaction to the film was positive though not as rapturous as some. I do agree with Richard Brody that the film does gloss over details that could've made the "incriminating accusations" portion have more weight...but beyond that, I do get the sense that I need more time to ruminate. I just wanted to get some thoughts out there first.

If anything though, see the film for Blanchett. She is worth the effort!

RATING: ****/*****

GIVING FRIENDSHIP THE FINGER: My Review of Martin McDonagh's THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN - Starring Colin Farrell & Brendan Gleeson

**THERE WILL BE SOME SPOILERS** 

**AS OF THIS WRITING, THE FILM IS AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING ON HBOMax**

My love of cinema is also closely tied to my love of the theatre.

Over the last 25 years, one of the more fascinating and consistent playwrights to emerge in the field is Ireland's darkly comedic prince Martin McDonagh.

McDonagh's work often has a very bleak and cynical edge with a sharp wit dripping through as if it were pouring out of a juicer. 

Plays like The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Pillowman, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and A Behanding in Spokane all had elements that seemed to combine that strong brooding edge but with such surprising humor.

Despite his success and the admiration that he has amongst theatre afficionados, McDonagh has always had some reservations about theatre.

He was once quoted as saying that he holds "a respect for the history of films, and a slight disrespect for theatre."

He did go on to clarify that he didn't entirely disrespect it, but he does have a certain point when talking about the rising costs for tickets to see plays and how it creates a certain "elitism". Despite his darker sensibilities and the acclaim his plays have received, he still feels that "theatre is never going to be edgy in the way I want it to be".

So, over the last 15 years, McDonagh has been building a reputation as a filmmaker.

In 2004, he won an Oscar for his short film Six Shooter featuring his frequent acting collaborator Brendan Gleeson and soon followed that up in 2008 with the truly brilliant In Bruges, starring Gleeson and Colin Farrell.

2012's Seven Psychopaths didn't gain as much attention as In Bruges but was quite fantastic in its own right, and also had an amazing ensemble cast.

He really hit it big in 2017 with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri which honestly came close to winning Best Picture and netted Oscar wins for actors Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell. Despite some of the more divisive elements that made some not really appreciate it, I loved the film.

It has been 5 years since that film was released but now, McDonagh is back, and he has teamed up with Farrell and Gleeson again on The Banshees of Inisherin, the first film of his that sort of feels connected to the kind of material he writes for the stage (even down to a similar kind of title).

I would even go as far to say that the film in style and plot and tone reminds me of his earliest breakout play, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, which is often not discussed these days as some of his other work.

Considering all of his other films have had more of high-octane tone, like the mobster edges of In Bruges or the action-packed shoot-outs of Seven Psychopaths, there is something weirdly surreal and calm and somewhat tragic about The Banshees of Inisherin.

As it stands, while it may not be my favorite film by McDonagh (I still consider that to be Three Billboards), I was rather fond of Banshees...and it is undoubtedly one of the best movies of the year.

Set on the isle of Inisherin in 1923, at the tail end of the Irish Civil War, we meet Padaric Suilleabhain (Colin Farrell) who lives with his sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon). 

Padaric goes to fetch his friend Colm (Brendan Gleeson) for a pint at their local pub only for him to just sit in his home, unmoved and smoking.

It turns out that Colm has reached a bit of an impasse with Padaric and he wants to end their friendship. This isn't just some sort of massive conflict that we aren't fully aware of...it is truly an overnight decision on Colm's part...and it leaves Padaric very confused and hurt.

The remarkable thing about this plot is how much McDonagh mines out of it. When you just state the plot in that manner, you think "How can one manage to stretch it out for nearly 2 hours?!"

McDonagh makes it work...and the little layers he adds with the tonal shifts and unexpected surreal edges give it a unique flavor. It certainly feels a lot like a McDonagh project, but he also shows immense growth as a filmmaker, too.

He showed great competence and flair as a director on all of his previous films, but here, he ups the visual aesthetic greatly and I think that the relative basic nature of his direction of Three Billboards (which I agree with in theory) is what led to him getting snubbed for a Directing nod that year. I don't think he will get snubbed this time...and if anything, I think he is going to win Original Screenplay.

As a director though, I almost felt like he took an Ingmar Bergman dread aesthetic out of The Seventh Seal and placed in a world of Jim Sheridan, director of such films as My Left Foot or The Field or the underrated In the Name of the Father.

Despite the scope of sweeping cinematography that features some truly gorgeous shots of the landscape and the ocean, it is certainly McDonagh at his most intimate a filmmaker. I appreciate that he is broadening his scope while also finding ways to keep his films fresh.

And it is also a true joy to watch Colin Farrel and Brendan Gleeson act again after they made for a truly glorious pairing in 2008's In Bruges. 

Gleeson does well in a sterling role, which is no surprise, but he manages to make the character compelling even though he is the one who is essentially casting Farrell's character aside for seemingly the only reason being that he grew to find him dull and with no cultural insight.

Farrell, it must be said, is fantastic and this might be some of his best work. I could even see him sneaking in to win the Best Actor Oscar for this performance. It isn't an undeniable performance necessarily, but I was very taken in to how much he gave the role.

As his sister Siobhan, Kerry Condon, who is best known for her role as Mike Ehrmantraut's daughter-in-law Stacey on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, is truly a scene-stealer.

She is strong and feisty and independent and speaks her mind...and in a key moment, local policeman Peadar Kearney makes a point to say that no one likes her.

This deeply affects her as we see her crying herself to sleep that night. It is clear that she is a woman who is destined for better things and that people around her are not helping her achieve her full potential. She is full of love, but she is a no-nonsense lady...I trust that we will see her get an Oscar nomination as well. 

Near the end of the film, Siobhan does get a position to work for a library on the mainland and chooses to take it leaving Padaric alone. When she leaves, she tries to get him to join her, but it seems as if both are choosing to pursue their own lives and it is uncertain when they will see each other again.

Speaking of the policeman I mentioned a little bit ago, Officer Kearney is a jackass...and the film has no problem presenting him as a problematic figure.

When Gleeson's Colm goes to a confessional at one point in the film, the priest makes a point to say that Colm shouldn't have punched Kearney as punching a policeman is a sin.

Colm replies "If punching a policeman is a sin, then we may as well pack up and go home".

Kearney also has a young son named Dominic, played by the charming Barry Keoghan who has been a part of such recent projects as Dunkirk and the masterpiece miniseries Chernobyl. Kearney beats his son frequently and, we discover, sexually abuses him.

Dominic is portrayed as being rather "dim" and a local troublemaker, but he is incredibly sweet and has a heart of gold. Keoghan lights up the screen whenever he is on it, and perhaps in one of the more difficult scenes to watch, he tries to ask Siobhan out on a date despite their over 10-year age difference. Throughout the film, Siobhan treated Dominic as a nuisance but in this moment, you could truly see that she felt horrible for hurting him. Both Condon and Keoghan sell this scene masterfully. 

When we find out that Dominic dies via drowning (and it isn't sure if it was accidental or suicide), I felt immense sadness for him. Keoghan, if there is any justice, should also get an Oscar nod for this.

Perhaps one of the more brutal aspects of the film involves Jenny, a miniature donkey that is almost like a dog to Padaric. 

Earlier in the film, to try to prove his point to Padaric, Colm threatens to cut off his own fingers for every time he attempts to talk to him. Padaric doesn't believe him...and the trailer showcases this moment for the humor of it...but Colm isn't kidding. He cuts off a finger and throws it at Padaric and Siobhan's door.

Padaric makes a valid point though.

If you want to make music (which is Colm's claim as he feels he can live on forever if he creates great music), why cut off your fingers?

Eventually, after multiple encounters, Colm cuts off the remaining four fingers on his hand and throws them at the house...which leads to Jenny attempting to eat one and choking to death.

This leads Padaric to joining the so-called impasse himself, but he goes a step further...he intends to burn down Colm's house and he hopes Colm will be inside when he does...but even if Colm did indirectly kill Jenny (which he feels horrible about), Padaric doesn't want Colm's dog to perish so he takes him with him.

There is a strong bond to the love of animals in this film that is rather sweet and adds to the tragic nature. It sort of does give that vibe that animals are simply better than people...which is, undoubtedly, true the majority of the time.

The surreal tragicomic nature of The Banshees of Inisherin makes for a rather interesting and eclectic offering to this movie award season. The main quartet of Farrell, Gleeson, Condon, and Keoghan are truly splendid. McDonagh shows new shades of himself both as a writer and a director...and honestly, much like his plays, I will always be willing to see what he comes up with next.

RATING: **** 1/2 out *****

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM SOME SCISSORS: Discussing Chantal Akerman's JEANNE DIELMAN (w/spoilers)

 

Before I go any further, the link below will take you to my previous post which talks about my discovery of Jeanne Dielman and its critical history and its ascent to a truly high honor from modern day critics and directors alike:

Chantal Akerman's JEANNE DIELMAN: A Look at "The Greatest Film of All Time"

Within the first ten minutes of Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, we watch the titular character fiddle around her kitchen, entertain a gentleman caller, and take a bath.

This is all presented in a very straightforward and matter-of-fact way.

And with very little dialogue to boot.

To top that all off, once we get through those first 10 minutes, we watch Jeanne clean the bathtub and prepare for dinner which will just be for her and her teenaged son as she is widowed.

One could call Jeanne Dielman a film that truly embodies a "slice of life" motif. Others might call it "anticinema".

I have had friends or acquaintances of mine who appreciate film often insult or mock films of a certain nature that opt for what they might call a more pretentious approach.

Cinema is obviously a visual artform, and a lot of the appeal of going to the movies for many people has been the concept of "spectacle".

A certain reputation has formed around those who might opt to go see a small indie film as they mock the movies of the Marvel universe which continue to make bank year after year.

Sure, we might be considered film snobs, but I think cinema has a place for films that one might dub to be "nothing". Jeanne Dielman can be seen as a film about nothing and that it drags on for a running time that is nearly 10 minutes longer than the likes of Titanic or Schindler's List...but just as quietly as it crept up to obtain the crown of "Greatest Film of All Time", I would say Jeanne Dielman says a lot about gender/sexual politics without even conveying a lot of dialogue.

We observe Jeanne over the course of 3 days. In the first day, everything feels very routine.

I've already mentioned the cooking and the cleaning and the gentleman caller and the bath, but we also get:

-Jeanne and her son having dinner

-Jeanne reading a letter aloud to her son, Sylvain from his aunt.

-Jeanne helping Sylvain practice accent work

-Jeanne crocheting while reading the newspaper.

Everything so far has been dripping with pure domesticity. Jeanne's life is nothing but a repetitive routine...but then you get this added spin of her prostituting herself for money. When Jeanne reads the letter to Sylvain, Jeanne's sister mentions how brave it is that Jeanne remains single after the passing of her husband. It doesn't really show that Jeanne cares that deeply about finding companionship...which we will find out a little more about later.

She simply is doing what she has to do to provide for herself and Sylvain. She shows no shame by it, nor should she feel shame by it.

With the day winding down, Jeanne and Sylvain straighten up the living room and then prepare for bed.

This is when we start to get more of a direct glimpse into the relationship between the two of them, and it is also the moment I can recall when the film really truly pulled me into its spell.

Jeanne brushes her hair before bed and then goes to wish her son a goodnight.

Before parting the room, Jeanne notices Sylvain is reading. She had already a comment during dinner that he shouldn't be reading at the table...and now he is reading before bed.

The following exchange occurs:

_____________________

JEANNE: You're always reading, just like your father.

SYLVAIN: I know. You already told me.
(pause)
How did you meet my father?

JEANNE: Why do you ask that now?

SYLVAIN: I just read the word "miracle"...and Aunt Fernande always said it was a miracle she met Jack.

JEANNE: Yes, he came in '44 to liberate us. They tossed chewing gum and chocolates to us, and we threw flowers to them. I met your father after the Americans had left. I was living with my aunts, because my parents were dead. One Saturday, I went to the Bois de la Cambre with a girlfriend. I don't remember the weather. She knew him. You know who I mean. I've shown you her picture. So, we began seeing each other. I was working as a billing clerk for horrible pay. Life with my aunts was dull; I didn't feel like getting married, but it seemed to be the thing to do, as they say. My aunts kept saying "He's nice...he has money. He'll make you happy"...but I still couldn't decide. I really wanted a life of my own, and a child...then his business suddenly hits the rocks, so I married him. Things like that happened after the war. My aunts changed their minds. They said a pretty girl like me could do better and find a man who'd give me a good life. They said he was ugly and so on, but I didn't listen.

SYLVAIN: If he was ugly, did you want to make love with him?

JEANNE: Ugly or not, it wasn't all that important. Besides, "making love", as you call it, is merely a detail. And I had you.

SYLVAIN: Would you want to remarry?

JEANNE: No. Get used to someone else?

SYLVAIN: I mean someone you love.

JEANNE: Oh, you know...

SYLVAIN: Well, if I were a woman, I could never make love with someone I wasn't deeply in love with.

JEANNE: How could you know? You're not a woman. Lights out.

____________________

There is a forwardness between these two that doesn't feel as typical between what you would expect between a mother and a son.

However, within this exchange, you get the history you need to know to sort of understand Jeanne. This was a woman who did love the idea of having a child, but never seemed to be that invested in the idea of being married. 

But it was the late 40s/early 50s, it was "the thing to do". 

And here you have her teenaged son, who does seem to support her, but he is thinking along the lines of her finding someone new to love. The big difference is she doesn't seem to care and seems pretty content while he seems to have an old-fashioned view on only having sex with someone he loves.

Little does he know that the manner in which she is supporting him is by sexual favors.

In one fell swoop, we have a woman onscreen right at the height of the 70s Womens Movement, basically proclaiming in a subtle way that she doesn't need a man to marry, nor does sex have to be directly linked to love.

Or maybe on some level, she longs for it and can't bear to focus on that detail.

That is where we proceed into the second day...and once we get to the second day, the routine repeats.

Perhaps under a lesser hand, this repetition could come across as if Jeanne were repeating some kind of Groundhog Day scenario, but instead, the routine seems to be what is keeping Jeanne at bay.

We slowly see tiny moments of this routine start to unravel.

When Jeanne prepares potatoes, she overcooks them.

When she tries has a freshly washed spoon on the floor, it is a little action that seems to crack something very subtly within her psyche. 

Jeanne is played by Delphine Seyrig, a French actress who would eventually pass away from cancer in 1990.

Seyrig's work in this movie reminds of Anna Magnani...although the mere mention of Magnani might make some raise an eyebrow as that actress was known for her volcanic and rather intense acting approach in many Italian Neorealist films of the 40s and 50s. That was the thing about Magnani though; she was very bold, but she was very real in that emotional intensity.

Seyrig is at the other end of that spectrum. She is all about the subtlety.

When you watch Seyrig in these scenes, she goes about her day doing these activities without any sense of performance. It is truly an example of someone onscreen simply living a life...but that isn't to say that Seyrig is unremarkable. 

Far from it.

Seyrig manages to have a very provocative screen presence even while performing a simple act such as peeling potatoes. She is actually a marvel at expressing these slight cracks in her emotional state, such as smiling but having the size of it fade over time as she slowly slips away from her sense of reality.

It all feels like a truly gradual descent into a quiet nervous breakdown happening in real time, but without any kind of bells and whistles that might make for an "Oscar-bait" scene.

The film focuses on so many of the same scenes on each day so that we can watch Jeanne slowly lose a grip on this calculated life she has built. 

The genius of Akerman here is how subtly she herself stages these scenes because no matter how small the little deviations of the routine are, you slowly feel yourself feeling covered by a dark cloud. The amount of dread that starts to permeate everything is slowly being turned like a knob by both Akerman and Seyrig. I would go as far as to say very few performers and filmmakers have ever synched up in such a potent way as Seyrig and Akerman did on this film.

This is where the major spoiler point comes into play.

Jeanne entertains another gentleman caller on the third day. We don't see her actually participating in any sexual acts...in fact, any time that occurs, the film will literally keep us in a dark space without any real sense of how the act plays out.

Although, following this particular act, we see Jeanne standing at the foot of her bed getting dressed. Her gentleman caller is lying in bed basking in the afterglow while she just seems very disconnected from everything around her...until she spots some scissors lying on her vanity. She picks them up and walks out of view of the camera, only to abruptly reappear stabbing her "john" in the chest.

                 As he lies dead in her bed, we suddenly see Jeanne sitting back at her kitchen table. 

And we watch her, for nearly 6 minutes straight, just sitting there. She appears somewhat despondent but maybe even a little relaxed even with the blood still on her right hand. She tries to awkwardly adjust her posture as if she is trying to rebuild her emotional barrier that she had built around her to protect from any kind of harm she might cause to herself, Sylvain, or to anyone else...and it makes you wonder what the next step is for Jeanne. What kind of potential trauma will she face from this incident?

We will never know.

The film fades to black and the credits roll and the only sound you hear are the cars whizzing by on the street outside her home.

There is truly something unsettling about Jeanne Dielman and while I wouldn't say it is scary like a horror film, it leaves this weird uncomfortable feeling that not many horror films have achieved for me.

Akerman's direction on this film might appear to some as being static and dull, but I think what she achieved here is absolutely stunning.

Chantal Akerman

In interviews, the late Akerman stated that as a filmmaker, she wanted to maintain a sense of space for the character of Jeanne. A lot of the shots are done at a slight distance as if Akerman is in Jeanne's home but doesn't want to impose too much on the proceedings. All of the framings were meant to "respect" Jeanne's space, and that the long static shots simply would always keep the viewer knowledgeable of where she was.

Akerman also used an entirely female crew for the film which she actually deemed a disaster after the fact. 

She said: "It didn't work that well. Not because they were women - but I didn't get to choose them. It was enough for them just to be women - so the shooting was awful".

She also stated that various images in the film were built around the idea of social hierarchies and how women are perceived within them. "Women's work comes out of oppression...and whatever comes out of oppression is more interesting. You have to be definite. You have to BE".

Akerman seemed to have a gift at taking a stab at the idea of the patriarchy without fully ignoring the aspects of it that could be fruitful to show the tragic plights of many women at that time...or even simply women who maybe weren't negatively affected per se but perhaps might've found more joy in life if they didn't stick to certain routines.

Maybe Jeanne would've had a happier life had she taken more chances...but who are we to judge her for how she chose to cope with the death of her husband? She didn't even seem to be that invested in him as it is.

I am not saying I condone murder, of course...as it does seem like Jeanne's unraveling took the life of an innocent man. But...I personally take the view that Jeanne's life of rote routines and domestication are what led to her emotional downfall. She did want to be a mother and loves being a mother, but she didn't care too much about being a wife and yet, she managed to find some sort of weird solace in these domestic activities.

If you want to really simplify it, you could say that this is a great advertisement for women to run out of their homes and get a job in the work force.

I think that is rather brash and not particularly enthralling way of analyzing what the film is trying to say...but there is a certain truth to that.

Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles manages to say so much with so little about grief and the idea of women's roles in society.

Akerman made this film when she was 25 years old...and she would've only been 72 if she were still alive today. 

As a filmmaker, she managed to find a way to create a truly compelling vitality in what seemingly seemed like nothing. That is why Akerman deserves this kind of recognition.

That is why Jeanne Dielman is truly a masterwork.

Chantal Akerman's JEANNE DIELMAN: A Look at "The Greatest Film of All Time" (NO SPOILERS)

 Perhaps you have heard the news.

The 1975 Belgian film Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles has been selected as the greatest film of all time in the prestigious BFI's (British Film Institute) Sight & Sound Poll.

The Sight & Sound Poll has been released every decade from 1952 to the present and it is a list compelled by the likes of film directors, writers, critics, and historians. While others may disagree, I do think there is a pretty solid argument that it is one of the more highly regarded and respected film polls out there.

For reference, I am going to show you the full top 10 lists for both 2012 and 2022:

        2012:

1. Vertigo (191 mentions)
2. Citizen Kane (157 mentions)
3. Tokyo Story (107 mentions)
4. The Rules of the Game (100 mentions)
5. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (93 mentions)
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (90 mentions)
7. The Searchers (78 mentions)
8. Man with a Movie Camera (68 mentions)
9. The Passion of Joan of Arc (65 mentions)
10. 8½ (64 mentions)

        _________

        2022:

1. Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
2. Vertigo
3. Citizen Kane
4. Tokyo Story
5. In the Mood for Love
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey
7. Beau Travail
8. Mulholland Drive
9. Man with a Movie Camera
10. Singin' in the Rain

Looking at these two lists, you might notice that some of the older films from the 2012 list were bumped in favor of somewhat newer offerings like 2000's In the Mood for Love or 2001's Mulholland Drive.

I am still just as surprised as anyone else about the selection of Jeanne Dielman as the "greatest film of all time".

Before I go any further, I did want to mention that I am going into this essay without discussing any kind of spoilers of the film. I do think it is better to go into it cold, but I also sort of regret even saying that much.

Maybe I will do a separate "spoilers" post about the film as I do think it deserves additional discussion. I am also going to do a separate post which will discuss the rest of the Sight & Sound film selections both from the critics' list and the directors' list which the latter did include Jeanne Dielman but not in the #1 slot. 

I discovered Jeanne Dielman when I was a freshman in high school, so this would've been 2003. At the time, Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation came out which I adored. A lot of online film forums were discussing the possibility of her getting nominated for a Directing Oscar which would not only make her just the THIRD woman to get nominated, but the first American woman to do so.

It felt insane that the number was so low. She did manage to get the nomination, but lost to Peter Jackson, which was not considered a shock. Coppola did manage to win Original Screenplay, which was deserved and was similar to the SECOND woman who got a Directing nod: Jane Campion, who lost her Directing bid for The Piano to Spielberg for Schindler's List...but she did net the Screenplay win.

But I digress...

With all of the talk of women filmmakers not getting their fair shake, I found lists from older film fanatics who were recommending great films made by women that they felt deserved to be seen.

Of these lists, two films stood out to me:

Agnes Varda's Cleo from 5 to 7

Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles 

Varda's work was seen as an inspiration to Akerman (and, admittedly, I might like Cleo a little more than Jeanne Dielman but that isn't relevant or important here) ...and it shows. 

I was very lucky growing up that my local library had a rather impressive slate of films available for rent, and this included foreign films as well. There was an older gay man who oversaw that aspect of the library, and he often led me to choosing certain films to see and I credit him for developing a lot of my film tastes. 

I remember him being thrilled when I rented Jeanne Dielman and he was eager to hear my thoughts.

I am not even sure I know how to describe my first thoughts on the film. At nearly 3 1/2 hours long, Jeanne Dielman is undeniably a process to sit through...but unlike longer films that managed to put me to sleep (coughTheEnglishPatientcough), something about Jeanne Dielman kept me in a rather surreal trance.

The movie is about a woman named Jeanne Dielman (and we never hear her name spoken aside from a letter she reads aloud to her son). She is a widow who spends her days doing routines that never vary, such as cleaning and preparing meals for her and her teenaged son. She manages to make a living by prostituting herself with one client a day.

And we watch her do these routines for 3 days' worth of time...but with each passing day, little moments cause the routine to crack, and we slowly realize that Jeanne may not be as stable as we think.

Despite being made and released in 1975, Jeanne Dielman was not seen in the US until 1983. Once critics did see it from our side of the pond, most praised it as being revelatory. 

Jonathan Rosenbaum, a critic of The Chicago Reader, was among the film's earliest champions here in the States. When some bemoaned its long running time, he said:

 "[IT] needs its running time, for its subject is an epic one, and the overall sweep ... trains one to recognize and respond to fluctuations and nuances. If a radical cinema is something that goes to the roots of experience, this is at the very least a film that shows where and how some of these roots are buried"

Many commented on how the film was showing a bold example of normalizing sex work as an actual career (which it is...I strongly feel it needs to be decriminalized).

Writer Ivonne Marguilles stated that the film was "fully in tune" with the European Womens' Movement of the 1970's and that it provided a "rigorous alignment of sexual/gender politics with a formal economy".

 

Queer film critic/historian B. Ruby Rich made even bolder proclamation by stating that Ackerman invented "a new language capable of translating truth previously unspoken". She also added that "never before had the materiality of a woman's time at home been portrayed so viscerally".

In 2009, The Criterion Collection released Jeanne Dielman on DVD for the first time, and it slowly developed a bigger cult following. However, with the passing of Chantal Akerman in 2015 at the rather young age of 65, a lot of her work got re-evaluated by many film critics and historians. 

Criterion once again released another remaster of the film in 2017 and during this time, it felt very prescient. With the tides changing to look for more inclusion and diversity, many were discovering the film and Akerman's body of work for the first time. Even prior to 2017, the only other film of Akerman's I had seen was her 1978 film The Meetings of Anna, but Criterion introduced me to several others like Tout une nuit and I, You, She, He. 

Between the 2012 and 2022 Sight & Sound polls, the tides have changed and while some like to criticize the concept of identity politics when putting in the world of artistic criticism, I think many films made by women and people of color have not gotten the credit they deserve.

On the critics' list alone, for the first time ever, there are two films made by women. In addition to Jeanne Dielman, the list above shows Claire Denis' Beau Travail, which was a film I saw once back around 2005 and really did like but feel like it warrants another viewing.

In terms of other inclusions, I will save that for the other post. 

It seems remarkable that in just the span of 10 years, Jeanne Dielman went from getting listed at #34 in 2012 to #1. 

Last year, I made a series of posts on my blog going on a decade's journey listing what my top 10 films were from each decade starting with the 1930s to the 2010s.

When discussing the 70s, I put Jeanne Dielman at #7 and stated that I felt this was a film that was starting to get more attention and that I would love for me people to give it the recognition it deserves.

I really truly did not think that I would see it be crowned the #1 movie by the critics and historians with the Sight & Sound magazine. 

This is only the 8th list of its kind that has been made by the magazine/institute. Jeanne Dielman is only the fourth film to have been named the "greatest of all time" following Bicycle Thieves, which held the title only once for the list's inaugural outing.

Then, the perennial and cliched choice of Citizen Kane held the title for every list between 1962 and 2002 until Vertigo unseated it in 2012.

Jeanne Dielman still seems like such an obscure choice, but while I have read a lot of snide comments from people who probably haven't seen any movies outside of those made within the Marvel Universe, the film snob in me revels in seeing the film get this kind of recognition.

As I stated before, it is nearly 3 1/2 hours long...and it is presented in such a matter-of-fact manner that I can't help but marvel in how ballsy it actually is. 

Akerman was a feminist filmmaker who actually did balk at the idea of being pegged as such because she sadly felt that there "was no such thing as Women's Cinema".

Chantal Akerman

Sadly, she kind of had a point. 

She passed away right before a lot of the real surge of recognizing women filmmakers came to light, with both Chloe Zhao and Jane Campion winning Best Director Oscars within a year of each other.

Akerman was one of the true pioneers and was a true inspiration not just as a woman, but to any filmmaker. Her style of filmmaking inspired the likes of Gus van Sant, whose work on movies like Elephant were clearly imbued with the Akerman slow-paced haze.

Akerman was an unsung hero for so long and I think she truly is a beacon for feminist cinema...although she deserves to be held on a higher pedestal than that.

I am not sure how quickly I will have it up, but I do intend to do a more in-depth analysis and review (with spoilers) of Jeanne Dielman. 

If you do have an interest of seeking out the film, it is available for streaming on Criterion but an easier platform to find it on is HBO Max.

Perhaps a slow-paced movie of such a length won't be for everyone, but I honestly...give it a look.