Film

Review
La Jete

Figure 1 La Jetee Poster



La Jete produced by Chris Marker in 1962 is a black and white film consisting of still Images that are
used to tell the experimental story. The plot of La Jete is that Paris is in turmoil in the aftermath of
world war III and some people think of themselves as victors while others are prisoners, the prisoners
are the guinea pigs for experimentation by the victors to see if it is possible to travel the unconscious
psyche through time past and future to save Paris in the present.

Marker uses extremely experimental methods of telling the story of La Jete. The film is of all static
images with some very subtle shake effects with fade and dissolve transitions that linger to give more
impact to the story as the narrator tells the viewer that the story is being told from inside the mind of
a man (Davos Hanich) that is glued to an image from his past and possibly this man can dream of
another time and be able to live in it. As the story unfolds the use of still images is mesmerizing as the
viewer feels like they are engulfed but also trapped in something very personal as it feels like you are
looking through a photo book of this mans most meaningful memories as it replicates a sense of
nostalgia, romance, and sadness. The photographed black and white stills have a uniformly grainy look
to them, suggesting memory is a hazy and unreliable stand-in for reality while evoking the photography
that documented Frances razing during World War II (Heilman 02-07-02)

Figure 2 Fade Transition in effect

The use of sound in La Jete is stunning in its simplicity as the main protagonist is in his catatonic
state and is trying to decipher his memories there is a pulsing heartbeat sound effect used and as the
still images show him struggling in this state the heartbeat is fast as it shows him suffering and in pain
while as soon as he starts to recall his past and meets his love interest the heartbeat sound slows
down to a calmer state while the still image shows him smiling. As the inventors are documenting his
progress a hushed whispering is heard which induces a sense of ASMR and as the images from the
man begin to pour out and mix, operatic singing is used to give the memories an angelic and powerful
feeling. Like a storyboard, the flashes of images force the imagination to bridge the gaps between
frames, while raucous sound effects, haunting choral music and eerie narration help create an
unnervingly believable interior world. (Pierrot,09-01-12)


The use of the narrator is also very important as the man remembers images of children, birds, and
cats, the narrator points out that they are real which shows the devastation of Paris presently as
above ground everything is rotten with radioactivity. The narrator ends the mans reminiscing with
real graves as this signifies the death and decay that currently resides.

La Jete is rampant with subtext as the man remembers himself in a museum filled with ageless frozen
animals with his love interest, this signifies his mortality as the narrator tells the audience that they
have hit the bullseye, the viewer knows that this is a very important part in the film.

After the success of the protagonists past memoires the inventors send him into the future where
Paris is rebuilt with 10,000 incomprehensible roads. One wonders if this could be an inkling into a
French architect named Le Corbusier, born Charles Jeanneret (1887-1965) where he was tasked to
demolish Paris after it had fallen into disrepair and completely reconstruct it into a modern Utopia
which was heavily criticised in the 60s for zapping the city of its spirit. It is possible that Marker could
be representing his vision of the future in La Jete with Jeannerets failed designs in mind.

















Figure 3 Le Corbusie Paris Utopia Designs


As the protagonist has a short lived experience in the future as the people dont accept him from
another time period he wakes up to the realisation that he has served his purpose and the inventors
no longer need him as his childhood image had been used as bait to condition him, as he is being
executed deep in these limbos he got the message from these men of a world to come they two
travelled in time and were ready to accept him as one of their own. The film ends with the
protagonist chasing the woman of his dreams only to die before he reaches her but it could possibly
end in a serendipitous way as the people from the future only accepted him when he was being
executed, is it possible that he will be with the woman of his dreams in the future?.

La Jete is an extremely experimental film that pays off as the use of still images and sound effects
along with the narrator makes the viewer feel like they are also frozen in time while feeling like you
are invading the mind of the male protagonist and seeing his most personal memories. Marker has
produced a unique mysterious masterpiece in storytelling and La Jete is a film that can be watched
numerous times to find more theories and is why it is essential viewing for any film aficionado.
Due to Markers supreme inventiveness, La Jete has been rightly sanctified among cine-literate
audiences. A dark but poignant story that contemplates memory and time within the grandiose
framework of the science-fiction genre (Pierrot,09-01-12)

Illustration List
Figure 2 Fade Transition in effect (1962) From: La Jete. Directed by Chris Marker [Film Still]
Accessed on (15-01-17)


Marker C (1962) Figure 1 La Jete Poster
http://www.dking-gallery.com/store/BUF_LeJete.html
Accessed on (15-01-17)


Jeanneret, C (1925) Figure 3. Le Corbusie Paris Utopia Designs
http://www.businessinsider.com/le-corbusiers-plan-voisin-for-paris-2013-7?IR=T
Accessed on (15-01-17)

Bibliography

Heilman, J (02-07-02) moviemartyr.com

http://www.moviemartyr.com/1962/lajetee.htm
(Accessed on 15-01-17)


Pierrot, J. (09-01-12) roobla.com,
https://roobla.com/2012/09/01/la-jetee-1962-film-review/
(Accessed on 15-01-17)