News from Home

The apotheosis of the city; long shots shape the scene, the city provides the backdrop, and the residents themselves can play their anonymous parts. After all, the letters, through their "tedious" repetition of family events, only remind us that the lives of these endless unknown masses are lives of work, breakups, love, longing, sickness... Or is it that the film we are watching is a depiction of people who "had to suffer a lot," in which Chantal tries to shoot something that, as we learn from the letters, should change our perspective on social problems? The film raises quite different questions for the viewer. However, the film can also be (and usually will be) interpreted as another personal reflection on the author's relationship with her mother, a topic crucial for the author's entire filmography, given the circumstances of her death (Chantal Akerman's final film, No Home Movie, is an intimate posthumous dialogue between Chantal and her mother, who died a year prior and with whom she always had an intense and problematic relationship. However, at the time of the premiere of this film, Akerman herself committed suicide). Impeccable colors, subtle editing work, and a true urban symphony. (02/21/2014)