Chantal Akerman in the Seventies [Criterion Collection] [3 Discs] [DVD]

As a follow-up to the Criterion Collection's prior release of Belgian avant-garde filmmaker Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles, this volume in Criterion's Eclipse series presents several of Akerman's features from the 1970s - a critical decade in her career. It begins with several New York-based experimental works, influenced heavily by the cinema of such pioneers as Michael Snow and Yvonne Rainer. These titles include the 11-minute La Chambre (1972), the 65-minute Hotel Monterey (1972), and the 85-minute News From Home (1976). This collection also includes Akerman's debut feature, 1974 Je Tu Il Elle - a fractured and loosely-knit character study of a woman cascading through life and a series of love affairs. It concludes with the 1978 Les Rendez-vous d'Anna, with Aurore Clément as a dissociated young filmmaker touring Europe to promote her latest movie. As with the other volumes in the Eclipse series, this one includes no frills or supplements.