Chris Marker's "La Jetée" has been a totem for nearly half a century. It's a haunting half-hour film enshrouded in mystique.
Marker (born Christian François Bouche-Villeneuve in 1921, either outside Paris, as many sources say, or in Ulan Bator, as the writer and director has claimed), has a godlike reputation among cinephiles, thanks both to the ingenious and often playful nature of his essayistic films (he's made dozens) and to his obscurity. He grants few interviews and almost never allows himself to be photographed. Only a fraction of his movies are available on DVD.
Thankfully, "La Jetée" is one of them. Marker's only fiction film, it was made in 1962, and chances are that either you've never heard of it or you think it's a masterpiece.
Read the rest of my review of Chris Marker: La Jetée in today's Los Angeles Times.
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