Set over the course of three days, Chantal Akerman’s magnum opus grants a transformative outlook on the quotidian, as widowed housewife Jeanne Dielman (Delphine Seyrig) goes about a regimented routine of daily chores, in between undertaking sex work to provide for her son. Punctuated by a patient, long-take, static camera approach, the film grants cerebral attention to her meticulously structured domestic life, from preparing veal cutlets to washing up – making the jarring interruption of her hypnotic cycle on the second day all the more pronounced and momentous.
A watershed moment for the film canon, as the first feature by a female director to top the decennial Sight & Sound poll for the greatest film of all time, this is an unmissable, rare opportunity to experience a complete revelation in contemplative, trailblazing filmmaking on the big screen, paying tribute to the mesmerising cinematic genius of Chantal Akerman.