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Title: La Jetee/Sans Soleil (Criterion Collection) (2007)
Format: DVD
Score:
Starring: Florence Delay, Charlotte Kerr, Kim Novak, Riyoko Ikeda, and Alexandra Stewart
Director: Chris Marker
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Runtime: 127 minutes
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Review of La Jetee/Sans Soleil (Criterion Collection)

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Comments for La Jetee/Sans Soleil (Criterion Collection)

• Posted on 2010-02-20
  Images
  
  La jetée (1961) aka The Pier is one of the best, poignant, and most unusual films ever made. The 28 minutes long collection of unbelievably rich, mesmerizing, still black and white images accompanied with the mourning score and sparse narration look inside your very soul while you look at them and they talk to you and reach to all your senses. This is correct - the film used a photo-montage technique but once stated watching, I was so enthralled that I did not think about technical part. The film is simple, poetic, philosophical, and profound. It is an anti war/post-apocalyptic science fiction documentary style and at the same time the ode to love, longing, and to power of memory. Here is the paradox - how can documentary, made of the still black and white images tell the story that would influence every following film about time travel and be the true feast for mind and soul? Well, it has happened in La jetée, and while watching you forget what genre the movie belongs to because it defies the definitions of genres, and you just don't want it to end and you know that this movie will never have a happy ending. Like millions of fascinated viewers I ask how that much was achieved with so little. Like an unnamed protagonist of La jetée is marked for life with an unforgettable image from his childhood, the viewer is marked with the still images of the film, especially by only one animated image of awakening in the film that comes like a miracle. I finished earlier this evening re-watching Terry Gilliam's excellent film Twelve Monkeys (1995) for which La Jetee was the inspiration. Now when I saw both, I am sure that if it were not for the unspeakably sad, beautiful and moving short film of Chris Marker that suggests that "calling past and future may save the present" and provides the extraordinary emotional impact with the story of return to the most vivid childhood memories again and again, there would be no brilliant and dark visions of Twelve Monkeys. Both films are glorious in their unique way and should be viewed together to be appreciated fully.
  
  
  
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• Posted on 2009-12-17
  A fantastic release for those who are passionate of the works of Chris Marker!
  
  Christian François Bouche-Villeneuve, the mysterious director known by his alias Chris Marker. Since 1952, Marker has been involved in films that invoke a person to think. Not just limited to films, Marker is an accomplished writer, photographer, documentary maker and multimedia artist. Not known for giving interviews or his picture being captured, if anything, we see only a picture of a cat.
  
  Known for films such as "Lettre de Sibérie" (1957), "Le Joli Mai" (1963), "A Grin Without a Cat" (1977), "AK" (1985), "Level Five" (1997), Chris Marker is a director that has always challenged audiences and what better than to release two films that he is especially known for in a single DVD release from The Criterion Collection: "La Jetée" (1962) and "Sans Soleil" (1983).
  
  Two films that are very different from one another but both have their place in importance of works from Chris Marker.
  
  VIDEO & AUDIO:
  
  "La Jetée" is a film featured in Black and White photo stills, while "Sans Soleil" was shot by Chris Marker with a silent camera. Both films are presented in their original aspect ratios of 1:66:1. According to the Criterion Collection, both films feature new high-definition digital transfers created on a Spirit 2K Datacine. "La Jetée"was mastered from a 35mm fine-grain master positive and "Sans Soleil" was mastered from a 35mm interpositive.
  
  Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System.
  
  Audio is presented in monaural and is narrated for both films. While "Sans Soleil" does feature sounds recorded by Chris Marker using a non-sync audio cassette recorder. The soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from 35mm optical track prints and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss and crackle. The film is presented via the center channel but for those with modern home theater receivers and have multiple channels, can set their receiver for stereo on all channels.
  
  To the delight of many fans of both films, both audio tracks (English and French) are included.
  
  Subtitles are in English.
  
  SPECIAL FEATURES:
  
  "La Jetée/Sans Soleil" contains the following special features:
  
  * Jean-Pierre Gorin - Various interviews with filmmaker, writer and educator Jean-Pierre Gorin about Chris Marker covering the following topics: Fantomas, "Que sais-je?", The Essay Film, Extraterrestrial, History, Troublemaker, Cinema, La Ciotat, The Fifth Dimension. (Note: This special feature is found on the La Jetée side)
  * Chris on Chris - (9:32) A short video piece by London-based writer and film critic Chris Darke about Chris Marker. (Note: This special feature is found on the La Jetée side)
  * On Vertigo - (9:13) An excerpt from Cour-circuit (le magazine) exploring Chris Marker's fascination with Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo". (Note: This special feature is found on the La Jetée side)
  * David Bowie's "Jump They Say" - (1:42) An excerpt from Court-circuit (le magazine) about David Bowie's music video for "Jump They say" and how it pays homage to "La Jetée". (Note: This special feature is found on the La Jetée side)
  * Jeane-Pierre Gorin - (17:51) Another interview with filmmaker, writer and educator Jean-Pierre Gorin from 2005 focused on Chris Marker's film "Sans Soleil" (found on the "Sans Soleil" menu).
  * 46-page booklet - Featuring a 46-page booklet which includes the essay "Memory's Apostle: Chris Marker, La Jetée and Sans Soleil" by Catherine Lupton, "The Patheorama" by Chris Marker, "This is the Story" by Catherine and Andrew Brighton, "On Sans Soleil", The Names of "Sans Soleil", Racine/Eliot, an interview "Rare Marker: An Interview" by Samuel Douhaire and Annick Rivoire, and "Notes on Filmmaking" by Chris Marker.
  
  JUDGMENT CALL:
  
  "La Jetée/Sans Soleil" is definitely a fantastic release from the Criterion Collection for those who appreciate Chris Marker's worker or are curious about his work.
  
  But it is one of those releases that you know in your heart that those who get it, can truly enjoy it. Those who don't, may find it too cerebral for their tastes. Even for myself, who enjoys cerebral films, I watched both in one sitting but realized that both will take repeated viewings, "Sans Soleil" I would need to take it in chapter by chapter because I find myself discovering something new with each viewing.
  
  For "La Jetée", many fans of Terry Gilliams "12 Monkeys" will appreciate where the director was able to come up with ideas which are literally concepts inspired from Marker's short film. The film was groundbreaking as it told a sci-fi story without the use of video and primarily through still pictures and audio. What I find so fascinating are the various essays found online dedicated to the short film.
  
  People who were impacted by the short film in various ways as also shown from the special features on the DVD. Considered as one of the greatest experimental films ever created, its hard to believe that a film utilizing still photos is able to capture suspense and mystery.
  
  Needless to say, over 25 years later, since the premiere of "La Jetée" I was able to utilize this form in my college project and needless to say, even a person like myself has been inspired by Chris Marker's work.
  
  As for "Sans Soleil", similar to "La Jetée", people come out of this film with different experiences. Much different from the 1962 film, "Sans Soleil" is much more intellectually crafted. The film focuses on the words of a fictional character, Krasna, a cameraman who has captured video and images in countries that are so different from each other.
  
  In someways, this film is a time capsule of sorts as it captures life in Japan or Guinea-Bissau. I feel as if Chris Marker's experience in Japan is much different than mine. Where the landmarks still remain the same but technology has changed the landscape of the country. Similar to Marker who remembers Japan from his memories, I view Japan through memories captured by my father back in 1973 and have since visited the country and have more or less embraced the technology.
  
  What I find so interesting when watching "Sans Soleil" is how much things have changed in Japan but also how things have not changed. Japan is still a country where many people continue to read manga, Akihabara is still an electronic city, horror films continue, sexuality is still showcased in many different forms and as it was in 1983, suicide is even more prevalent in today's Japan. And as for Guinea-Bissau, I don't think much has changed for the people in terms of culture in the country since 1983. The main difference is how technology has changed the landscape of livelihood, as it has affected other countries. Where Guinea-Bissau and other countries where technology has not permeated into the livelihood of the people, life still remains the same. So, in some ways, over 25-years later since the filming of "Sans Soleil", I would love to see Chris Marker to return and I would love to see what film he would be able to capture of today's modern Japan versus his experience from 1983 and the late 60's.
  
  The film is just a collage of video that begs of you to question them and make you wonder what Chris Marker wanted the viewer to gain from it. From the picture of three young children smiling in Iceland, to seeing the village being buried by volcanic ash. Video of a museum in Japan dedicated to the penis and animals in sexual positions. There are a wide variety of images that will capture your attention but the most shocking of "Sans Soleil" is when we see a giraffe getting shot. A video image that you just don't see on any animal show and possibly an image that one just doesn't forget. The video is not meant to be something important but merely a transition to another topic but yet, it's one transition that is one of the most talked about scenes of the film even 25 years later.
  
  "San Soleil" is a film that begs to ask those who have memories of a place and time but in someways, you can see the film as a film that possibly shows the change of society that Marker has come to accept and questions it. The character of Krasna is constantly bringing up topics of memories and then we are taken to another level when the topic starts to talk about Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo".
  
  Sound confusing? Explaining "Sans Soleil" is not an easy task unless you dissect each of the words that the character Krasna has written in his letters. And if you go online, you will read various of essays from people who have taken the task to do that and give you their impression of the film.
  
  From his interests in the banalities of life to the impermanence of images and history. Needless to say that the film is deep, intelligent and is not meant for a person to sit and watch over one sitting. Those who have and reviewed the film for a publication were quick to dismiss the film as too self-indulgent and too intelligent, while those who watched it many times, especially when it was released on DVD to pick apart the words that the character Krasna has written in his letters. There is no denying that Krasna is the voice of Chris Marker, a writer who likes to get into your mind and see things differently.
  
  Personally, I appreciate both films in different types of ways. "La Jetée" as an experimental film for its time and "Sans Soleil" as a film that is artistic but yet so dense that you need to watch it as many times as possible, but in pieces not entirely. As mentioned earlier, with each viewing, I'm always discovering something new.
  
  Overall, "La Jetée/Sans Soleil" is a wonderful release for Chris Marker fans. There are plenty of supplements and the fact that the video has been restored and contains both English and French versions of the two films is absolutely fantastic. This title is not exactly the easiest to review but it all comes down to the viewer who wants to be entertained or wants to be intellectually challenged, or a combination of both. And if you are interested in this release for the latter, then you will find this release from The Criterion Collection to be quite significant and a title that you will find yourself coming back to quite often. Definitely recommended!
  
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• Posted on 2009-08-17
  La Jet
  
  La Jetee
  
  Beautiful movie. Everything seems so timeless... you would never pinpoint it to be filmed (using all Man Ray photos) in 1923.
  
  A good thing to say about La Jetee is that it inspired Solyaris (1972).
  
  
  
  
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• Posted on 2009-07-29
  Excellent
  
  Whereas La Jetee depends on the conceit of believing the time travel scenario, and identifying so emotionally with the man that the obvious end seems startling, Sans Soleil ends dependent upon the conceit that so much information about the travels of Krasna has so overwhelmed the viewer, and so lulled him with its rhythmic pacing, that the viewer doubts there can be an end to the film, for Krasna is a character so filled with literal self-conceit it is akin to having an inner seat inside the brain of a man who simply loves the sound of his voice, no matter what nonsense it spews. Thus, when an end does come, it seems abrupt. The interesting thing is that while, stylistically, and innovatively, the later film's ending is far more daring, it simply does not affect the viewer the way the more expected ending of La Jetee does, because there is simply no attempt made to build empathy for Krasna, as there is with the man of the earlier film, nor is there any attempt to make Sans Soleil an emotional work of any kind. From the distancing images of the Icelandic children that open and close the film, to the images from The Zone, this film is detached from reality and emotion. It is also even more explicitly a film about perception, not memory, than La Jetee is.
  
  The DVD, put out by The Criterion Collection, is one of its best offerings, even if neither film comes with an audio commentary. Both films are shown in 1.66: aspect ratios. The extra features for La Jetee include video interviews with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin, a bit of an odd duck, whose small filmic rhapsodies on Marker are a bit too much, in the masturbatory sense. Then there is Chris On Chris, a video on Marker by filmmaker Chris Darke. It's more interesting than Gorin's hyperbolic reactions, but then we get some film clips from a filmmaker who idolizes Marker, and it is so inferior to Marker's work that one can only be thankful the guy gets only a minute or two in the sun. Then there are two excerpts from the French tv series Court-Circuit (Le Magazine). On is a take on David Bowie's music video Jump They Say, reputedly inspired by La Jetée; and the other a delightfully silly homage to Marker's influence by Hitchcock's Vertigo, because it posits that Marker's La Jetee is really about the man traveling in to Vertigo. Naturally, there is not a whit of logic nor proof behind the claim. The extra for Sans Soleil is a seventeen minute interview with Gorin, again. In this extended segment he comes off a bit more knowledgeable than in the deliberately coy smaller excerpts for La Jetee. The musical scoring for both films is very good, with wistful music often acting as the mortar between images in La Jetee, when the images are static and sans narration. All the visuals and editing were done by Marker, and he proves masterful at both.
  
  As these two films are Marker's best known works, and considered his best, one wonders if this is a critical misinterpretation, or apt. Naturally, I'll decide when I see other films of his. That stated, it bears repeating that these films, despite many claims by critics notorious for the tack of critical cribbing, are definitely not about memory. They will use some mnemonic devices, but they are about perception; and there is a difference. Perception is memory in the moment, in the now, whereas memory is perception of the now's shadow, the moment's shadow. Therefore they scan two different beats. One is the thing as it is, and the other a recreation of what seems to be the thing as it was. Memory is always an act of creation, or re-creation, which takes talent and skill to effectively convey. Perception just takes good senses. Perception requires attention. Memory does not. It requires concentration. And, as great as the purely cinematic elements are, as I've shown, both La Jetee and Sans Soleil would be vastly different and inferior films without the narration that sutures word to image, and both to a whole. These films are essential works of art from the 20th Century, and will likely have impacts that reach far into the future, long after much more celebrated works and artists have been forgotten.
  
  Strike memory!
  
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• Posted on 2009-06-17
  Two very `different' yet spectacular films you don't see the likes of every day...
  
  I wish I could review these separately, but whatever. I guess it's a really good thing that I love both of them and would give both of them A's anyways. I do not love them equally, so I'll start with the one I prefer.
  
  La Jetee.
  
  I will say this first; I am not really one who is overly excited about science fiction films. I mean, yeah, I like them enough, but for the most part I find them uninspired and kind of forgettable. There are a few exceptions (`Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' effortlessly meshes so many genres together in a unique and very rewarding way) but for the most part science fiction is often reserved for the summer Hollywood blockbusters that make a lot of money, fill a lot of seats, but rely so heavily on special effects that the storylines and plot points are disregarded altogether.
  
  They are mindless.
  
  What makes `La Jetee' so special is that it ditches the special effects for a rich story and unique vision. Chris Marker (who made his name in documentaries, which says a lot for the direction this film takes) uses still images (yes, this is NOT a live action film) to tell the story of Parisian survivors of a disaster that forced them underground. When they begin to tamper with time travel they uncover a story of one man's life that is intriguing and astonishing to behold.
  
  I can't say more than that for fear I'll ruin the whole thing.
  
  The film is short yet it packs a nice punch, and the still imagery says more than any live action could. It carries an air of coldness to it, but that helps with the films lingering aftereffects. It may not sound off the bat to be something you'd readily find entertaining, but I urge you to give it a try.
  
  And that brings us to the second film provided on this DVD.
  
  Sans Soleil.
  
  Now, I prefer `La Jetee' mainly because it is so unique in its approach, but if I'm completely honest with myself `Sans Soleil' is probably the better film, for it has a lot to say and it says it in such a thought provoking manner. Told much like a documentary would be told, a man's collection of vacation videos are narrated by a female friend whom he has written to and confided in. As he travels the globe she recounts his experiences and his intimate thoughts on life, humanity, time, memory and much more. So, like `La Jetee', this is not your typical film. It is told in random film clips, but it is ravishing in its intellectual look at human understanding.
  
  Again, to say more would be a crime against the next viewer.
  
  So, neither of these films may be pictures you would have sought out on your own, but hopefully this review will inspire you to try something new. Even if you are not as enthusiastic about these films as I am, you can at least say that you expanded your horizons with something unique and undeniably special.
  
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