Ranking All Of Director Chantal Akerman’s Movies
“What are Chantal Akerman’s Best Movies?” We looked at all of Akerman’s directed filmography and ranked them against one another to answer that very question!
We took all of the movies directed by Chantal Akerman and looked at their Rotten Tomato Critic, Rotten Tomato User, IMDB, and Letterboxd scores, ranking them against one another to see which movies came out on top. The movies are ranked in our list below based on which movies have the highest overall score between all 4 review sites in comparison with all of the other movies by the same director. The process is all very scientific with no flaws at all.
The full ranking chart is also included below the countdown on the bottom of the page.
Happy Viewing!
The Top Film’s Of Chantal Akerman
28 ) Paris Vu Par… 20 Years After (1984)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
- IMDB User Review Score: 28
- Letterboxd User Score: 26
Film comprised of six vignettes each illustrating one aspect of life in the French capital, each set in a different area of the city.
27 ) A Couch in New York (1996)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 14
- IMDB User Review Score: 25
- Letterboxd User Score: 25
Dr. Henry Harriston is a successful psychoanalyst in New York City. When he is near a nervous breakdown, he arranges to change his flat with Beatrice Saulnier from France for a while. Both don’t know each other and both find themselves deeply involved into the social settings of the other, because the decision to change their flats is made overnight. Could be the perfect amusement, but suddenly Henry finds himself beaten up by Beatrice’ lover and Beatrice is considered to be Dr. Harriston’s substitute by his clients…
26 ) The State of the World (2007)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 12
- IMDB User Review Score: 24
- Letterboxd User Score: 24
An omnibus project examining, well, the state of the world.
24 ) Seven Women, Seven Sins (1986)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
- IMDB User Review Score: 20
- Letterboxd User Score: 22
Seven Women, Seven Sins (1986) represents a quintessential moment in film history. The women filmmakers invited to direct for the seven sins were amongst the world’s most renown: Helke Sander (Gluttony), Bette Gordon (Greed), Maxi Cohen (Anger), Chantal Akerman (Sloth), Valie Export (Lust), Laurence Gavron (Envy), and Ulrike Ottinger (Pride). Each filmmaker had the liberty of choosing a sin to interpret as they wished. The final film reflected this diversity, including traditional narrative fiction, experimental video, a musical, a radical documentary, and was delivered in multiple formats from 16, super 16, video and 35mm.
24 ) Tomorrow We Move (2004)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 10
- IMDB User Review Score: 25
- Letterboxd User Score: 22
When her mother moves in, the life of a writer gets crowded.
23 ) À l’est avec Sonia Wieder-Atherton (2009)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
- IMDB User Review Score: 15
- Letterboxd User Score: 26
A film by Chantal Akerman.
22 ) The Captive (2000)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 6
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 11
- IMDB User Review Score: 27
- Letterboxd User Score: 15
An adaptation of Proust’s “La Prisoniere” (book five of “Remembrance of Things Past”). Set in Paris, France, it is a serious tale of a tragic and dysfunctional love.
21 ) Cinéma, de notre temps : Chantal Akerman par Chantal Akerman (1997)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
- IMDB User Review Score: 18
- Letterboxd User Score: 15
Janine Bazin and André Labarthe approached Chantal Akerman about making a film for the series; eagerly, Akerman proposed a number of filmmakers—but all had already been done. So she suggested…“How about me?” Akerman creates a fascinating self-portrait that takes us through her career, aided by critics Emmanuel Burdeau and Jean Narboni and filmmaker Luc Moullet.
20 ) Hotel Monterey (1972)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 9
- IMDB User Review Score: 20
- Letterboxd User Score: 15
Hotel Monterey is a cheap hotel in New York reserved for the outcasts of American society. Chantal Akerman invites viewers to visit this unusual place as well as the people who live there, from the reception up to the last story.
18 ) Letters Home (1986)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
- IMDB User Review Score: 1
- Letterboxd User Score: 26
A movie of a play centered around readings of Sylvia Plath’s (Coralie Seyrig) letters to her mother (Delphine Seyrig) and family.
18 ) Almayer’s Folly (2011)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 4
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 13
- IMDB User Review Score: 23
- Letterboxd User Score: 10
A tale of an occidental merchant, Kaspar Almayer, whose dreams of riches for his beloved daughter, Nina, collapse under the weight of his own greed and prejudice.
17 ) Night and Day (1991)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 6
- IMDB User Review Score: 20
- Letterboxd User Score: 15
Jack and Julie live in a bare flat in Paris. At night, Jack drives a taxi while Julie wanders around the city, and in the day they make love. One day Julie meets Joseph, the daytime driver of the taxi, and soon Julie is spending her nights with Joseph and her days with Jack.
14 ) South (1999)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
- IMDB User Review Score: 15
- Letterboxd User Score: 10
Chantal Akerman investigates the American Deep South through the story of a lynching and grisly murder of an African-American man that took place in Texas in 1998.
14 ) The Eighties (1983)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
- IMDB User Review Score: 10
- Letterboxd User Score: 15
All of the time and effort put forth to stage a musical is chronicled here in this bright and funny French outing. The story is set at a shopping mall where people audition for an upcoming show. Afterwards, they are seen going through the grueling routines of learning the music and rehearsing.
14 ) Histoires d’Amérique: Food, Family and Philosophy (1989)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
- IMDB User Review Score: 10
- Letterboxd User Score: 15
Belgian director Chantal Akerman avoids her usual “real time” technique in Histoires d’Amérique. The anecdotal nature of the subject matter compels Akerman to fragment her narrative, rather than offer it in one, uninterrupted continuum. Still, another Akerman trademark — permitting the “drama” to emanate from the actors rather than the situations — is very much in evidence. This informal history of Jewish life over the past 100 years is related in a series of eyewitness accounts, re-created by a group of largely unknown actors. Also known as American Stories, the Belgian/French Histoires d’Amérique began building an audience when it was shown at the Berlin Film Festival.
13 ) Golden Eighties (1986)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
- IMDB User Review Score: 17
- Letterboxd User Score: 7
Three young women at a hair salon all like the son of the clothing store proprietors across the mall. Although Robby is selfish and shallow, he’s appealing to Lili, the salon’s manager, who’s trendy and also the salon-owner’s moll; to Mado, who’s innocent and sweet; and to Pascale, who’s intelligent but passive and downcast. Robby’s dad tells him to grow up and see beyond the mercurial Lili, so he proposes suddenly to Mado. She’s delighted, but the day before the wedding, Lili returns to give Robby another look. In the background, a Yank who was a soldier in France in World War II returns to Paris and tries to recapture the love of his wartime sweetheart, Robby’s mom.
12 ) The Man with the Suitcase (1983)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
- IMDB User Review Score: 10
- Letterboxd User Score: 10
A woman experiences her daily routine altered by a visitor.
11 ) One Day Pina Asked… (1983)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
- IMDB User Review Score: 7
- Letterboxd User Score: 10
Chantal Akerman followed famous Choreographer Pina Bausch and her company of dancers, The Tanzteater Wuppertal, for five weeks while they were on tour in Germany, Italy and France. Her objective was to capture Pina Bausch’s unparalleled art not only on stage by behind the scenes.
9 ) Toute une nuit (1982)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
- IMDB User Review Score: 9
- Letterboxd User Score: 6
Following over two dozen different people in the almost wordless atmosphere of a dark night in a Brussels town, Akerman examines acceptance and rejection in the realm of romance.
9 ) No Home Movie (2015)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 3
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 7
- IMDB User Review Score: 18
- Letterboxd User Score: 10
Documentary about humans dealing with changing technology, the basic concepts of communication, cinema, and Akerman’s mother, seen in her Brussels apartment.
8 ) Down There (2006)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
- IMDB User Review Score: 7
- Letterboxd User Score: 7
Chantal Akerman reflects on a variety of themes during her stay in Israel, mostly filming from the recesses of her apartment.
7 ) From the Other Side (2003)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 7
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 4
- IMDB User Review Score: 10
- Letterboxd User Score: 15
A documentary look at the fate of Mexicans who cross the border into the United States.
6 ) Je, Tu, Il, Elle (1976)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 1
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 8
- IMDB User Review Score: 14
- Letterboxd User Score: 7
A woman suffers a subdued psychological breakdown in the wake of a devastating breakup.
5 ) Portrait of a Young Girl at the End of the ’60s in Brussels (1994)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 15
- IMDB User Review Score: 3
- Letterboxd User Score: 3
The main character, Michele, spends the hour discussing her views of life with some old and new friends, and tries to understand her own feelings about her place in the world and her sexuality, while a camera follows along at close range.
3 ) News from Home (1977)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 5
- IMDB User Review Score: 4
- Letterboxd User Score: 3
Chantal Akerman, the Belgian filmmaker, lives in New York. Filmed images of the City are accompanied by the texts of Chantal Akerman’s loving but manipulative mother back home in Brussels. The City comes more and more to the front while the words of the mother, read by Akerman herself, gradually fade away.
3 ) From the East (1993)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 8
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 1
- IMDB User Review Score: 6
- Letterboxd User Score: 5
Chantal Akerman retraces a journey from the end of summer to deepest winter, from East Germany, across Poland and the Baltics, to Moscow.
2 ) The Meetings of Anna (1978)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 5
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 2
- IMDB User Review Score: 4
- Letterboxd User Score: 2
Anna is a film director whose job takes her all over western Europe. In each place she either already has some intimate connection, or readily makes one. People seem drawn to her, but inevitably insist on sharing their inmost secrets and discontents with her, despite her obvious and profound lack of interest in these revelations. This does not deter Anna from continuing to meet people, and she genuinely connects with them occasionally, as when she sees her mother briefly in Brussels.
1 ) Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
Review Website Ranks:
- Rotten Tomatoes Critic: 1
- Rotten Tomatoes Users: 3
- IMDB User Review Score: 2
- Letterboxd User Score: 1
A lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores, takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to make ends meet. Slowly, her ritualized daily routines begin to fall apart.
