The Sound of Saute ma ville

Abstract

ARTICLES 47"Akerman cleanses her narrative of anecdote and of psychological overtones. Th e performance also has a presentational quality that dispels dramatic development. " Ivone Margulies 1)At fi rst listen, the sound of Chantal Akerman's fi rst short fi lm, Saute ma ville (1968), is baffl ing. For many reasons: it is asynchronous, exaggerated, absent, surreal, detached. It seems lo-fi , raw, and amateurish. In fact, it refl ects the technical obstacles of its time: recording sound in movement was diffi cult in practice, with most productions being (insuffi ciently) completed with ADR. 2) In some parts, the sound is not synchronized with the image, seeming to enhance the nonsensicality of the protagonist's individual tasks. Th e action is sometimes exaggerated and absurd. Its intentions, ideas, meanings and strategies unfold themselves more and more upon a closer look/listen. In her fi rst exercise, Akerman's general attitude is already shaped: the simplicity, the intentional naivety that distracts the audience for what is to come, the feeling of verité, as much as the feeling that "nothing happens". 3) Akerman made use of sound as a direct tool for storytelling. All sounds refl ect the story in their own way but equally take the same direction of discomfort and restlessness Sara Pinheiro (FAMU)The Sound of Saute ma ville Saute ma ville 1) Ivone Margulies, Nothing Happens: Chantal Akerman's Hyperrealist Everyday (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1996), p. 2. 2) ADR stands for ' Automated Dialogue Replacement' . In some iconic movies from this period, the technique was underdeveloped, less accurate than nowadays. For example, see the bridge scene in Truffaut's Jules et Jim (1962) versus any contemporary mainstream film. 3) When confronted with the idea that Saute ma ville is a young version of Jeanne Dielman, Akerman replied roughly that [her character] did not want to become a Jeanne Dielman herself (at a public talk at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem; see <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT3BDXIwuvs>, [accessed 7 December 2018].