Un Jour Pina a Demandé... (1983)

Chantal Akerman, whose shots can sometimes feel like the go on too long, whose gaze can occasionally feel unbearable, who lets the camera linger until it feels as though we don't really have permission to keep looking, films Pina Bausch's Tanzteater Wuppertal at work. Bausch's choreography is repetitive and can be painful or difficult. It's a perfect marriage of choreographer and filmmaker. Akerman's work makes here makes it seem as though all of life is choreographed by Pina Bausch. The backstage footage of the dancers simply doing small things like smoking or fixing their hair even seems like Bausch choreography. I loved this.

Je Tu Il Elle (1974)

Ok. Well Je Tu Il Elle is unlike anything I've ever seen. I liked it a lot, actually. And it is amazing to see Niels Arestrup at such a young age!! This is the second Chantal Akerman movie I've seen in as many months. Both of them were strange and I was into both, as well.

I watched this on the Criterion Channel, which is showing a whole bunch of Akerman movies. This one was her first and it's famous for a real-time lesbian sex scene, which was (obviously) why I watched it.

Toute une Nuit (1982)

I think Toute une Nuit is my first Chantal Akerman movie. I was really into it. It's just a bunch of very short little stories about love and rejection and connection. We follow a whole bunch of different characters – some longer, some for only a few moments – and we get a portrait of a very vivid night, so much passion and so much confusion behind closed doors. One of the pairs of lovers is even two men. It was a nice touch, and I liked this movie. There isn't a lot onto which one can really latch, though, and my companions were both bored. Oh well.