La Jetee (1962) - Film Review

La Jetee (1962)

Fig 1. La Jetee (poster art)

La Jetee is a 28 minute science fiction film that is completed using still frames.  It tells the story of an unnamed man who is used in an experiment of time travel.  During these travels into the past, he falls in love with a woman he has seen somewhere before.

This film is an example of the art of illusion.  Michael Hanke calls the 24 frames each cinema second, 24 lies because it gives a false impression of movement.  The illusion of movement is actually created by slowing down the pace of the still image. Time lapse and movement are used to trick the audience and create illusion. "The human brain forgets the cuts,” Michel Gondry said about film. And just like Michael Haneke calls the 24 frames in each cinema second “24 lies,” Chris Marker emphasizes the false perception of film movement  by simply slowing down the pace of the still images."  (Ignoramous L, date unknown) 

At the very beginning of the film, the still shot of an airport is used.  The quick 'camera zoom out' however gives the illusion that the scene is moving.  The realistic sounds of the airport that are added to the visual image further enhance the realism of the image.

Fig 2. La Jetee (film still)

A further sequence of destroyed buildings also appear to contain movement.  Yet, it is the camera moving and not what is actually happening in the image.

La Jetee uses fade ins and fade outs, dissolves, cut ins in order to convey time lapse.

There is little speaking in the film and in fact the only voices that are heard are German-speaking.  The main characters do not speak and this adds to the illusion that they are not in the present.

There is a live action sequence in the film which consists of a woman blinking.  Previous to this moment there are a series of dissolves which give the impression that the woman is alive and moving - yet she is lifeless.

The scene which is set in the museum of stuffed animals is used to portray stillness.  At one point the characters are leaning over examining the animals and stood in a posture similar to the 4 legged stuffed animals themselves. "Like these animals, the human characters in La Jetée remain completely stationary in each still photograph; Marker only implies their motion by showing subsequent frames juxtaposed in montage. Through image association (and, to some extent, through narration), the audience is expected to understand that each image follows the other in chronological order." (Hough S, 26/08/15)  

Fig 3. La Jetee (film still)

Roland Bathes in his book, 'Camera Lucinda', examines photography and concludes that "a photograph carries with itself a label 'time-has-been', signifying that whatever the photograph depicts happened in the past.  While live-action films can provide the necessary qualities to suspend the audiences belief and make the action appear to be taking place in the present, photographs are inevitably bound in the past.  Their diegesis is not here and now." (Roland Barthes) 

La Jetee uses this idea to convey a story of time travel and ultimately the story of a man who witnesses his own death without realizing it.

Illustration List:
Figure 1. La Jetee (poster art) https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTBmYjIxYjQtNzNhMS00MmRlLWJjNTMtZmI5YmJiMTIxMGFjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTQxNzMzNDI@._V1_UX182_CR0,0,182,268_AL_.jpg (accessed on 07/03/17)

Figure 2. La Jetee (film still) https://chrismarker.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/high-quality-jetee.jpg (accessed on 07/03/17)

Figure 3.  La Jetee (film still) http://40.media.tumblr.com/dd3bb47d031e3155ba6ee9673c16406d/tumblr_nm70ojbVtm1tus777o1_1280.png (accessed on 07/03/17)

Bibliography:

Hough S, 26/08/15  The Freedom of Movement in Chris Markers La Jetee [online] In: Movie Fail At URL: http://moviefail.com/freedom-of-movement-la-jetee/  (accessed on 07/03/17)

Ignoramous L, date unknown Chris Marker’s La Jetee Analysis: Mortality and the Illusion of Time
[online] In: Films Lie At:URL: http://filmslie.com/chris-marker-la-jetee-analysis-temporality/
(accessed on 07/03/17)

Roland Barthes (1980) Camera Lucida (book)