Directed by Chantal Akerman (Belgium/U.S.A, 1972). In Chantal Ackerman’s Hôtel Monterey, a cheap Upper West Side hotel glows with mystery and unexpected beauty.
In the film, shot over the course of a single night, Akerman forgoes narrative to conduct a formal investigation of the hotel’s interior, carefully constructing and fragmenting scenes of hallways and doorways, much like Hammershøi did in his many renderings of his apartment at Strandgade 30.
62 min. | In French with English subtitles.
About the Director
Chantal Akerman (1950-2015) was a Belgian film director and artist.. Influenced by the structural cinema she was exposed to when she came to New York from her native Belgium in 1970, Akerman first made her mark in the decade that followed, playing with long takes and formal repetition in her films, which include the architectural meditation Hôtel Monterey, the obsessive portrait of estrangement I, You, He, She/Je, tu, il, elle (1976), the autobiographical New York elegy News from Home (1976), and the austere anti-romance The Meetings of Anna/Les rendez-vous d’Anna (1978).
Probably Akerman’s greatest achievement was her epic 1975 experiment Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, a hypnotic study of a middle-aged widow’s stifling routine, widely considered one of the great feminist films. Other Akerman films include the Proust like adaptation The Captive/La captive (2000) and From the Other Side/De l’autre côté (2002), a documentary about immigration from Mexico to the United States.
About Painting Cinema
A century after his death, Vilhelm Hammershøi’s singular vision continues to resonate with that of contemporary artists, writers, and filmmakers.
This film series looks at a selection of films that highlight his aesthetic and reimagine some of his central themes.
November 20, 2015
November 20, 2015
FRI- 11-20-2015 – 6:30 PM
$10 ($7 ASF Members)