News from Home

News from Home is a 1976 movie directed by Chantal Akerman. The film is a letter to the director's mother who lives in Belgium and consists of footage of New York City, while the director reads letters from her mother that talk about their everyday life back home.

The opening shot of the movie shows the viewer a long view of the Brooklyn bridge. Through Chantal Akerman's eyes, we see New York City in its full glory, its architecture, street life, and transportation. The movie is a mix of slow-moving frames of street life, the movement of trains, the roar of traffic, and an occasional view of personal details, like the women going to work or the action in a street fair. The film uses ambient sound, the constant rhythm of an unchanging grind to catch the attention of the viewer.

Akerman's mother's letters are read in French by the director herself, and they are read in a flat monotone voice that contrasts with the exuberance of the shots on the screen. Her mother's letters speak of personal details of their everyday lives, like what they ate, where they went, or who they met. Chantal Akerman's voice-over reading the letters is a peaceful lull that accompanies the shots in a twofold manner. It is the reminder of personal life that happens outside of the camera's range, and it also contrasts with the inanimate world that the camera captures. The letters become a voice over that guides the films; they are the human element that brings warmth to the movie.

Akerman's camera-eye is fast, and she captures the ebb and flow of the city life that happens with the intricate workings of a clock mechanism. Through her moving frames, one can witness the street level view of the city, the birds that live there, the buildings that were there before, and how everyday people tread the same roads.

Akerman's tracking shots of cars show the multiple layers of New York life: the buildings, the commuters, the people on bikes, and the ever-moving, throbbing city lights. The camera pans to the emptiness of the parks, the bridge, and the river stretches where the camera is an observer, a spectator of the human condition.

The movie's length is 86 minutes, with extended takes, the camera often lingering just a few moments longer. It's an essay-like movie, a reverie that catches the emotional heart of a transplanted life. The sheer length of the movie accentuates its personal tone in the film, like the details of the mother's letters, the city life that she glimpses through her daughter's camera, and the pathos of an absent connection.

News from Home is a meditative tour of the gritty, noisy city life that never stops, juxtaposed with the intimate stories of a mother and daughter across an ocean. The film can be experienced as a time machine into the past, from the perspective of Akerman's mother reading the city through her daughter's camera lens.

As the film progresses, the narrator's voice-over tonelessly recounts her life experiences to her mother, often portraying a sense of estrangement as well as a hopeful yearning. It is as if the camera is speaking, reflecting her life's experience as a foreigner amidst the bustling metropolis while also confined to her apartment, which adds an additional layer of complexity to New York life.

The ending of the film shows a screen that gradually fades to black, a symbolic gesture that reflects the director's ties to her homeland, and the eventual disconnect as life happens. Akerman's work is a poignant meditation on belonging, an elegy to the home left behind, and a love letter laced with a sense of mourning that explores loneliness, yearning, and memory.

In conclusion, News from Home is the contemplative, narrated tour of New York City through the eyes of a foreigner, with its fascinating streets, shops, and road networks; as seen through the lens of the director's camera, and conversely, of remembrances from home shared by the mother. For film enthusiasts and those interested in personal documentaries, this movie is a must-see.