Almayer's Folly

Chantal Akerman's last fiction film — and her penultimate film at all: 'Almayer's Folly' is a loose interpretation of Joseph Conrad's novel of the same name, in which the action is moved to 1950s Malaysia. Here, Dutch merchant Gaspard Almayer lives in a bitter marriage with a Malaysian woman whom he initially married in the hope of wealth. At the same time, he is deeply attached to their daughter Nina. The film opens with a murder in a bar and from there moves backwards towards a possible explanation for the tragedy we have already witnessed. Akerman lets the narrative unfold in dense, sensuous settings: From neon-lit bars and harbor environs to the overgrown jungle. Music by W.A. Mozart and Dean Martin drifts through the humid atmosphere. A postcolonial fever dream.

Director: Chantal Akerman
Starring: Stanislas Merhar, Marc Barbé, Aurora Marion, Zac Andianas
Country/year: Belgium, France, 2011
Running time: 127 min.
Formato: DCP
Language: English subtitles
Age limit: Allowed for children over 15
Original title: La folie Almayer

Part of the series: Chantal Akerman's fictions
Chantal Akerman was one of the most form-conscious and innovative filmmakers of her generation. Her fiction films range from melodrama and musical to romantic comedy and radically concentrated chamber plays and testify to an incredible curiosity to explore the possibilities of fiction.