THE EIGHTIES (LES ANNEES 80)

Belgium, 1983, 85 minutes, Colour.
Magali Noel, Kath Best, Francesca Best, Nora Tilley, Aurore Clement.
Directed by Chantal Akerman.

The Eighties is a short film by Belgian writer-director Chantal Akerman. She has made a number of films, focusing especially on women, Jeanne Dielman, Les Rendez- Vous d'Anna. This film is for the most part a videotape of rehearsals for a potential film musical. It is of some interest to those involved in theatre and cinema with the audition atmosphere, tapes of various actors and actresses portraying scenes (with obvious contrasts between personalities and styles of acting). However, there is a great deal of repetition which the average audience could find very tedious. Because of the nature of the audition, and the limited space available for it, the camera-work is fairly limited - and again adds to a repetitious atmosphere with tedium. There are some lively moments when actresses record their songs for dubbing for the film. After fifty minutes, the film suddenly makes a transition to some of the song sequences with which the audience is now familiar. There is some charm in these - although, once again, the area is quite restricted to little shops and a small cast. The music and the style echoes the Hollywood musicals of the '40s and '50s. Chantal Akerman appears at the end of the audition segment to sing and record a song - not always well. A specialist film for those involved in dramatic and cinematic arts.