Sightlines · reception

How Portrait of a Young Girl at the End of the '60s in Brussels was received

1994 · Chantal Akerman · Portrait of a Young Girl at the End of the '60s in Brussels on Sightlines

The arc

Made for French TV and barely seen for two decades, it circulated as a cinephile whisper (and fuzzy bootlegs) before restorations and streaming turned it into one of the most beloved entries in Akerman's filmography.

What’s debated

Fans keep arguing it's the ideal Akerman entry point — warmer and more accessible than Jeanne Dielman — while purists push back that calling it 'the easy one' undersells it.

Its footprint

Its dance to Leonard Cohen's 'Suzanne' is the endlessly screenshotted, gif'd moment — a fixture of 'best needle-drops' and 'best dance scenes' lists.

Where it stands

A Letterboxd darling and certified hidden gem: the once-impossible-to-see Akerman that's now a 'you have to watch this' recommendation.

Did you know? It was commissioned for Arte's 'Tous les garçons et les filles de leur âge' series — nine directors making films about their own adolescence, each required to include a party scene and period music — the same series that produced Assayas' Cold Water and Téchiné's Wild Reeds.

A Deleuzian reading of Portrait of a Young Girl at the End of the '60s in Brussels →