In 1962, Chris Marker released an experimental film that he described as a “photo roman” (a photo novel), which was comprised of editing together individual photographic stills rather than film shots. The result was La Jetée, a groundbreaking short film of science fiction about time travel in a post-apocalyptic world. Marker’s film inspired Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys (1995) and a recent TV series of the same name. Watch Marker’s film (it is 28 min) and the trailer of Gilliam’s movie, and discuss the use of cinematic time travel. Is it successful in La Jetée? What movies have you seen that deal with time travel?
To watch an English version of La Jetée, you need to watch it in two parts:
Watch the important opening sequence of La Jetée by here (click on World War Three)
Watch the rest of La Jetée here (this version is missing the very important first 3 min)
Watch the trailer of Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys here.
If you want to see the whole 12 Monkeys movie, the entire film is temporarily available here.
Homework #8 is DUE by Tuesday May 12th. Diamonds and Spades Post, Clubs and Hearts Comment.
