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Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Contra Costa County Library.
Oct 11, 2016princeofdarkness rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I'll make my comments on one film at a time. The first film, La jetee, is best described as an examination of the dynamics of time, history and memory, and how a person might relate these ideas to film making and film watching. The story of the film may not be as important to the understanding of the film's objective. The title of the film might best be translated by 'observation deck' (as it is in the subtitles) rather than the literal translation of 'pier/jetty'. Chris Marker may be asking his audience to look at life as if we were on an observation deck, where airplanes, or memories by extension, take off and arrive. Our lives, past, present and future, can be captured in moving or still images and are shaped by our own thoughts/narrative. I didn't find the film as indigestible as some must have done. I found it to be a thought-provoking experiment in storytelling; the actual story was a lesser consideration, at least on first viewing. I'd be pleased to leave the social commentary to those who revel in that type of dialogue. I've just watched "Sans Soleil", & am prepared to comment. It's not often that I can characterize a relatively short film as 'epic', but this film treats the same subject as "La jetee" in a way that is somewhat epic in its scope. So much is said and shown in it that the subtitles often fail to keep pace with the French narration and the accompanying images. This indicates to me that something is fundamentally wrong with this film, regardless of whether the ideas here are insightful or the images memorable, both of which are true. I was praying for some type of cogent synthesis of ideas at the end and either I missed it or it passed out of reach. There is a point to be made out of all the themes touched upon and the sounds/images presented but the stream of consciousness that flowed past was too overwhelming. Maybe this film needs a second chance but I'm not sure if I have the will to try and decipher the code to the message.