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CS Weekly Archive> DVD > 07/06/07
Writing at the Edge of the Envelope
by scott castle
La Jetée/Sans Soliel (Criterion Collection)
Chris Marker (also directed)
 
 
Chris Marker explodes the idea of the traditional narrative film in two avant-garde movies that illustrate the elasticity of the movie medium. La Jetée, the film that inspired the Terry Gilliam-directed, David and Janet Peoples-scripted 12 Monkeys, is a story read against still images (and one motion picture). A time traveler (Davos Hanich), selected for his ability to exactly remember a specific moment in his past, is propelled into history to find resources for a World War III-ravaged world. The film mimics the traveler's experience by offering its story in fragmented glimpses that eschew the persistence of vision inherent in the medium. Similarly experimental is San Soliel, a story disguised as a travelogue that assembles its narrative from images of Japan, Africa, and San Francisco with a narrator (Alexandra Stewart) recounting the thoughts of a time traveler from the future exploring the mid-20th century. More a long- form, free-association poem than a conventional story, the movie contrasts the present with an imagined future and evokes an emotional response that complements the intellectual satisfaction of La Jeté's climax. Criterion's supplements offer insights into Marker's world and explore the relationship of the earlier production to Vertigo, 12 Monkeys and even a David Bowie video, but do little to investigate the films themselves.
La Jetée/Sans Soliel (Criterion Collection)
The Criterion Collection
Not rated; 130 min.
$39.95
Buy it now
Scott Castle is one thesis shy of a master’s degree in film. He’s written two short films, four television scripts, and a handful of short stories. He lives in Los Angeles.
La Jetée/Sans Soliel (Criterion Collection)
courtesy The Criterion Collection
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