Les rendez-vous d'Anna (1978)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Chantal Akerman

Writer:

Chantal Akerman (writer)

Release Date:

8 November 1978 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Anna, a detached and diffident director, arrives in Germany to show her latest film; she checks into a hotel...

Plot Keywords:

Paris | Train | Female Nudity | Dancing | Frustration

Cast

Aurore Clément	...	Anna Silver
Helmut Griem	...	Heinrich
Magali Noël	...	Ida
Hanns Zischler	...	Hans
Lea Massari	...	La mère d'Anna
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Daniel
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alain Berenboom
Françoise Bonnet
Thaddausz Kahl
Laurent Taffein
Victor Verek

Also Known As:

De afspraken van Anna (Belgium: Flemish title)
The Meetings of Anna

Runtime:

Belgium:127 min | France:120 min | Argentina:127 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

France | Belgium | West Germany

Language:

French

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13

Company:

Hélène Films

Moody film for patient viewers

"Les Rendez-vous d'Anna" is the only film of Chantal Akerman's which I've seen. It is seemingly a highly personal film about a few days in the life of a female Belgian filmmaker who is traveling around Europe showing her latest work. There are long shots of traveling, whether by train, car or taxi, during which...well,nothing really happens. Kind of like real life. The Europe which is observed all looks the same, pretty much - sterile and dispiriting, rather like the Anna's life. Hardly a tree is seen in the whole movie and Anna actually tells her German lover that she doesn't much care for flowers - nature seems to have been blotted out. She has encounters on her travels with a sensitive, handsome German whom she rejects, a long-time friend of her mother's who wants Anna to settle down and marry her son, a German man who has travelled the world and is now decided on living in France which he declares the land of freedom, her mother in Brussels and her Parisian lover. Through all the encounters, Anna remains detached and pretty much a blank slate. She doesn't really seem to know what she is looking for, but it doesn't seem to be commitment of any kind. Clement is purposefully reserved and detached in the lead role, but the people she meets offer opportunities for several sharp well-turned performances, namely from Magali Noel, Lea Massari and Hans Zischler who is great as the rootless traveler searching for "freedom". "Anna" is an interesting, moody film but definitely not for those looking for action or entertainment. If that is your thing, avoid this film like the plague - but if you are a patient viewer who likes to be immersed in a mood and read between the lines, so to speak, this film may appeal to you.