Akerman combines long sequence shots of New York City streets and subways with a voiceover reading of her mother’s letters. These letters (which Akerman reads herself in a soft monotone) relate the banal goings-on back in Belgium and berate her “darling little girl” for not writing more often. However, this voiceover is often drowned out by the roar of traffic or subway cars, suggesting that the everyday of the filmmaker’s new home supersedes that of her homeland.
Having just called Floating Clouds boring, it might sound surprising to say that I find Akerman’s films fascinating. But of course, they are “boring” in ways that are incomparable. Boredom in Akerman’s work affords the viewer a space of contemplation, even rest. Contemplating the details of the enframed image and anticipating the rhythm of the editing become new kinds of cinematic pleasures. Akerman’s work is filmmaking at its most essential.
by Leo Goldsmith | Source: 16mm print
11 Oct 2005 2:40 PM | Comments (4)
If I recall correctly, this film concludes with a phenomenal single take, as a boat leaves Battery Park and faces the Manhattan skyline. I remember this shot because of how the World Trade Center dominates the frame, and, having not seen this film until after 9/11, how much the shot resonates in ways unintentional to Ackerman’s original purpose.
By the way, is this film available on DVD, even in another region?
I don’t think the film is available on DVD anywhere, but I believe there is a North American VHS release that is still in print. You might try the library.
And yes, you accurately describe the last shot, a good 5-10 minutes of the (old) skyline of Lower Manhattan, viewed from the Staten Island Ferry. What is particularly liberating about this shot is that it presents an expansive view that contrasts with the rest of the film. Hitherto, the images have been rigidly framed compositions of streets and subway platform. The mobile frame at the film’s end presents a far broader perspective. It is also the only shot in the film that presents a view of New York that would be at all recognizable to a foreigner (like Akerman or her mother); and geographically, it shows the city’s financial center, as opposed to the occasionally bleak confines of uptown. (Incidentally, there is also an interesting racial undercurrent to the film. I think Hamid Naficy has written about this.)
As for viewing the World Trade Center on film, I also happened to catch the end of Dino De Laurentiis’ 1976 King Kong on the Oh! channel last week. It’s rather surprising to recall just how big those buildings were — a fact totally belied by the film’s poster, which erroneously shows Kong standing astride the two towers (in the film, he must jump between them). I was also surprised (in a totally different way) by how crappy the special effects were and how positively smokin’ Jessica Lange used to be. With the likes of Lange, Faye Wray, and Naomi Watts parading around, who can blame that naughty gorilla for tossing the odd subway car around?
Does anyone know where I might find a 16mm print of NEWS FROM HOME? Where has it screened recently? I would appreciate any distribution lead.
I think it played at Anthology Film Archives a couple of weeks ago as part of their Akerman retrospective (which was in connection with the symposium on her work at Princeton last week). You might look at their calendar or contact them for info on a distributor.
Jason
11 October 2005
12:14 PM
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