Film Review — La Jetée
★★★★★ Chris Maker’s time travel classic is a minimalistic marvel
Obsessed with a moment from his youth, a man in a dystopian future is sent back to the past. There he meets the same woman from his childhood memories.
Famously used as the basis for Terry Gilliam’s underrated sci-fi mindbender Twelve Monkeys, Chris Marker’s La Jetée is a fascinating product of French New Wave cinema that now stands, quite rightly, as a foundational pillar of the science fiction genre.
Running just under half an hour, consisting almost entirely of black and white still photography and unmistakably, unapologetically French, this could be a hellish proposition to anyone with an aversion to the avant-garde. But put aside any preconceived ideas, and you’ll be left in awe at how something so seemingly slender and lightweight can leave such a profound mark.
The presentation isn’t just an artsy-farty stylistic choice. It’s actually quite a brilliant way to lend weight to the film’s ideas around time and memory as fragile concepts. Images we see in the beginning are wonderfully reincorporated towards its conclusion as the pieces of an intriguing time travel mystery begin to slot together.
If you’ve seen Twelve Monkeys you’ll already know the outcome, but remarkably it won’t lessen its impact. This is a remarkable film, an inventive and indispensable slice of cinematic history that will continue to inspire filmmakers for as long as we continue to commit ideas to the form.
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