chris marker: ‘la jetee’ and ‘sans soleil’

though i had heard of ’la jetee’ through its hollywood connection via ’12 monkeys’ which was inspired by it, i had never ventured out to see it- even when it was quite easily accessible in america. when i saw a dvd of two chris marker films at sarvodaya yesterday i picked it up for lack of any other options. ‘la jetee’ and ‘sans soleil’

la jetee is a science fiction story abut memory and war. in post world war 3 paris, under the remains of the city, a man is sent back to the past and the future to save mankind to place where he had seen a violent incident. the film is told entirely in black and white stills with a voiceover, except for one scene where a woman flutters her eyes as she awakens from a dream. great short film but nothing compared to the next one.

in ‘sans soleil’ a woman reads out past letters from a cameraman, whose miscellaneous footage along with archive clips and synthesized video sequences, forms an edited report from other worlds – japan, africa, the us and france. its very tough for me to say exactly what the film was about, except for the fact that i did find myself in tears more than once. a line in film says something about making a list of 'things that quicken the heart.' this must be his attempt to make it, covering themes of civilizational conflict, time and space travel, culture, ethnography, politics, film making, poetry, memory and death. i am still reeling from the enormity of it all. there is no way anyone will be able to fathom it all with one viewing. i think i will get a copy made.