Chantal Akerman in the Seventies

Criterion follows up the 2009 release of Chantal Akerman's landmark Jeanne Dielman with this three-disc set collecting the balance of the Belgian director's 1970s filmography. “The New York Films” on the first disc consist of three non-narrative works: the 11-minute La Chambre (1972), shot in Akerman's studio apartment; the hour-plus experimental feature Hotel Monterey (1972), a silent 16mm study filmed in a residential hotel; and the feature-length News From Home (1976), combining a series of street scenes, cityscapes, and subway shots with intermittent letters read over an urban soundtrack. The second disc features Je Tu Il Elle (1975), the minimalist narrative that established Akerman on the festival circuit, in which she cast herself as Julie, a character lost in obsessive isolation until she impulsively embarks on a hitchhiking road trip through a surreal Belgium, eventually reaching the apartment of an old girlfriend, where the pair engage in a startlingly earthy, energetic, and lengthy love scene. The final disc presents Les Rendez-vous d'Anna (1978), Akerman's first studio production, starring Aurore Clément as a filmmaker on a promotional tour that takes her through a succession of train stations, impersonal hotel rooms, and long waits as connections (both literal and personal) are delayed. While these noncommercial productions will mainly be of interest to cinephiles, they also represent the singular vision of a young, influential feminist director finding her voice through very personal filmmaking. DVD extras include essays by Michael Koresky. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)