La Jetée (1962) 28min
(Figure 1: La Jetée Poster)
La Jetée, (The Jetty) directed and photographed by Chris Marker is a black and white, science-fiction feature film constructed almost entirely out of still images. This short but evocative film is fully narrated and runs along side naturalistic sounds and musical segments. The plot begins with a postwar bombed out Paris, featuring a man who is haunted by his childhood vision of a crime committed at a pier. His vision is filled with imagery of a woman, and appears to be a prisoner of war. He is taken underground, experimented on, and sent to time travel with the hopes of merging the past and the future in the present.
(Figure 2: Image of a headless female statue)
Despite the film only lasting 28 minutes, it has a sense of depth and raw emotion that takes longer to visually digest. As Alan Vallows-Dancy says in his film review, these images have great impact on the audience. “Director Chris Marker manages to evoke an atmosphere of sheer sadness and dread, interestingly enough, through the use of little more than still images, which says a lot about his talents as a filmmaker.” (Vallows-Dancy, 2012) What Vallows-Dancy is saying is that even though this film consists of still images, they still capture that moment of pure sadness, the emotion that is also conveyed within the mellowed music played in the background.
Throughout the imagery, there appears to be a strong connection to the captive man and the woman sexually, even if it is seen unintentional. At a certain point in the film, the woman is seen lying in her bed, biting her pillow and moving within the covers of her bed. This soon switches to images of naked female statues without heads or with very little facial features. (Figure 1) To modern viewers, this can lead to the conclusion that the man desires this woman, both emotionally and physically, and is not only thinking of her face within the moment at the pier. The speed at which these photographs switch are also slower than most, emphasizing a longer and more 'remembered' part of his memory.
(Figure 3: The Woman lying in bed)
During the scene where the captive soldier is seen wired up, in pain and struggling to deal with his vision, there are multiple cameras that dramatize this scene. Switching fastly and at different angles. As Bosley Crowther says in his film review; "Some may find it tediously pretentious, but there are striking images in it, and it does get across a vague impression of Frankenstein meddling with the brain" (Crowther, 1967) What Crother appears to be saying is that despite the age in which this film was produced, the story line seems very modern and familiar and has a true sense of 'horror' that we have all experienced before.
(Figure 4: Image of the soldier in pain)
Through the eyes of a passionate cinema goers, Markers' La Jetée is a true example that a emotionally intense film does not necessarily have to be all about CG and special effects; in fact, quite the opposite. As Battleship Pretension say in their film review; “This is, ultimately, what makes a series of stills so effective – they feel alive, but tied to the past, tied to a fate that has already been set.” (Battleship Pretension, s.d). As this quote states, photography and other similar use of 2D still images have always been a sense of connection the past and alas, memories that co-exists with the story line and its time-travelling endeavors.
To conclude, La Jetée is a very modern sci-fi movie that starts of slow and slightly held back, but sure enough as the time goes by, you can begin to see how the images capture the moment of the film just like any other moving image would, yet this style and technique that Marker has chosen has a far greater impact on any audience.
Bibliography:
Vallows-Dancy. A, (2012) La Jetée Film Review URL At:
Crowther. B, (1967) La Jetée Film Review URL At:
Battleship Pretension, (s.d) La Jetée Film Review URL At:
Illustration List:
Fig. 1. La Jetée Poster (1937) From: La Jetée Directed by: Chris Marker [Poster] France. Argos Films. URL At: http://www.etsy.com/listing/112216171/french-cult-movie-poster-set-rififi-la
Fig. 2. Image of a headless female statue (1937) From: La Jetée Directed by: Chris Marker [Poster] France. Argos Films. http://www.last.fm/user/salty_cookie/journal/2013/04/05/5sjs4h_mixtape_4__december_2012__dva_tiso%C4%8D_dvanajst_(two_thousand_and_twelve)
Fig. 3. The Woman lying in bed (1937) From: La Jetée Directed by: Chris Marker [Poster] France. Argos Films. URL At: http://sparksinelectricaljelly.blogspot.co.uk/2012_08_01_archive.html
Fig. 3. The Woman lying in bed (1937) From: La Jetée Directed by: Chris Marker [Poster] France. Argos Films. URL At: http://sparksinelectricaljelly.blogspot.co.uk/2012_08_01_archive.html
Fig. 4. Image of the soldier in pain (1937) From: La Jetée Directed by: Chris Marker [Poster] France. Argos Films. URL At: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4871392093_57e8187913.jpg
*As Battleship Pretension say in their film review; “This is, ultimately, what makes a series of stills so effective – they feel alive, but tied to the past, tied to a fate that has already been set.” (Battleship Pretension, s.d).* A perfect quote, Heidi! Nice one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Phil! :) But the sentence after the quote doesn't make sense to me ...'photography and other similar use of 2D still images have always been a sense of connection the past and alas, memories that co-exists with the story line and its time-travelling endeavors.'
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm not sure if you were referring to the image of the woman in the poster, but you talk about the headless statues and refer to figure 1, which is the poster, when figure 2 would have linked in better.
Make sure that your bibliography is organised alphabetically, by the author's surname, so Battleship Pretension, Crowther and then Vallows-Dancy.
Other than that, a solid start to the new film year! :)