News from Home

Streets, shop fronts, the subway, night scenes. Still life after still life in motion is perhaps the most apt description for the atmospheric New York cityscapes that Chantal Akerman compiled in the mid 70s in lengthy, precisely framed shots. Cars rush by, trains rattled, horns sound, voices can be heard in the background. At times hardly discernible, a voiceover forces its way through the urban soundscape: “My dear little daughter, I’ve just received your letter ...” It’s Chantal Akerman herself who reads out a series of letters from her mother, who asks for news from her daughter in America with a mix of curiosity, yearning and insistence while also letting her know what’s happening back home in Brussels. These intimate lines collide with the rough, lonely world of the big city and not just at a level of acoustics. Becoming ever more moving as it progresses, NEWS FROM HOME is a reflection on closeness and distance, expectation and alienation. (mg)