From the East

With my emphasis on female directors, it’s a disgrace that I haven’t yet mentioned one of the giants. Let’s fix that!

Chantal Akerman’s From the East is a beautiful, strangely restless travelogue, through the former USSR and its satellite states. I love the light here, the steady glow behind the pictures, day or night, summer or winter. It’s often breathtaking – the way the snow and rain turn the street scenes into watercolors and oils, the way light filters through the spaces! But, when the screen looks like a particularly wonderful painting, I want to linger. Trained, as I have been, on Tsai and Bartas, I kept wishing she’d hold her shots longer, stop the car, let me get out, enjoy, study the faces. Instead, we’re one of the crowd, tired and restless, eager to get home. I suppose it’s always good to leave your audience wanting more; I could have watched for twice as long.

This won’t be the last time I write about Akerman, I promise!