Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Chantal Akerman directs. Babette Mangolte behind the camera. Patricia Canino cuts. A long sit — settle in. Produced in Belgium, France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1At 202 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.
• 2Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 350 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 4International production across 2 countries: Belgium, France.
• 5Directed by Chantal Akerman, shot by Babette Mangolte. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Editor Patricia Canino shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Delphine Seyrig and Jan Decorte and Henri Storck carry the top of the cast.
• 8IMDB entry: tt0073198 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9The top-rated still from this film on TMDB has 6 community votes — a signal the frame composition stuck with viewers.
• 10Classified under 12 themes, including "widow", "brussels, belgium", "household", "loneliness".

The technical file

Cinematography

Babette Mangolte

Editing

Patricia Canino

Makeup / hair

Éliane Marcus

Runtime

202 min · 3h 22m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$120,000

Original language

FR

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1976) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

95% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

94/100

IMDB rating

7.5/10 · 16,628 votes

MPAA

Not Rated

US box office

$19,858

Also by

Chantal Akerman

• 
  Maniac Summer

  2009 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Interview with Babette Mangolte

  2007 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Interview with my Mother, Natalia Akerman

  2007 · ★ 8.0
• 
  My Mother Laughs Prelude

  2012 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Mallet-Stevens Street

  1986 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Franz Schubert's Last Three Piano Sonatas

  1989 · ★ 7.5

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Laura Mulvey on Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles | BFI

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  UK Re-Release Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  JEANNE DIELMAN, 23, QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES with Claire Atherton | TIFF 2019

  Featurette
• 

  ▶
  AFS PRESENTS: JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Chantal Akerman on JEANNE DIELMAN

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Chantal Akerman on Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

  Featurette · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• badelf2022-05-25
  ★ 8/10

  Yes, it's 3 hours, but we have to forgive that it's from an era before MTV and the resulting cultural ADD. If I didn't know better, I'd think this was the inspiration for Aronofsky's Academy Award-winning film 'Black Swan (2010). Well, actually, I don't know better. Maybe it was. The premise is similar. Here we become the spectator of one woman's descent into madness. It's kind of riveting in a ghoulish sort or way.

  Read full review ↓
• testr2022-07-12
  ★ 10/10

  There's a lot of much deeper things to say about this film and what it does and what it means, about the crushing routine of everyday life, about the nature of the worlds we live in, the stories we tell, but for now I just wanna say this movie is incredibly hypnotic and genuinely engaging and passes by far quicker than any movie this long and with this little happening rightly should. Good stuff tbh.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• PA

  Paradise Films

  BE

• UN

  Unité Trois

  FR

• MI

  Ministère de la Culture Française de Belgique

  BE

• 

  Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la FWB

  BE

Key crew

• Sound EffectsJacky Dufour
• Art DirectionPhilippe Graff
• Makeup ArtistÉliane Marcus
• ProducerGuy Cavagnac
• ProducerCorinne Jénart
• ProducerEvelyne Paul
• ProducerAlain Dahan
• ProducerLiliane de Kermadec
• ProducerPaul Vecchiali
• Sound RecordistBénie Deswarte
• Sound EditorAlain Marchall
• Sound RecordistFrançoise Van Thienen
• Assistant Art DirectorJean-Pol Ferbus
• EditorPatricia Canino
• Assistant DirectorSerge Brodsky
• Assistant DirectorMarianne De Muylder
• Assistant DirectorMarilyn Watelet
• Sound MixerJean-Paul Loublier
• Camera OperatorBénédicte Delesalle
• ElectricianRenelde Dupont
• Assistant CameraNicole Geoffroy
• ElectricianGuy Hiernau
• Assistant EditorMartine Chicot
• Assistant EditorCatherine Huhardeaux

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• widow
• brussels, belgium
• household
• loneliness
• feminist
• prostitution
• single mother
• woman director
• minimalism
• slow cinema
• chores
• mother son relationship

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)2017-09-08· Harvard Film Archive
• Theatrical (limited)1978-10-04· Bleecker St. Cinema, New York City
• Theatrical (limited)1976-11-11· The Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis
• Theatrical (limited)2023-01-07· O Cinema South Beach & Oklahoma City Museum of Art
• Theatrical (limited)2023-01-29· Brooklyn Public Library
• Theatrical (limited)2023-06-11· Madison Museum of Contemporary Art
• Theatrical (limited)2023-07-05· Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (Restored Version)
• Theatrical (limited)2025-01-05· Metrograph, New York City
• Theatrical1983-03-23NR· New York City, New York

Also known as

International titles

• Жанна Дільман, набережна Комерції, будинок 23, Брюссель 1080UA
• Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 BruselasAR
• Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 BrusselsUS