La jetée [1962]

Country of Origin: France
Year of Production: 1962
Running Times: 29 mins
Format: black and white still photographs
Ratio:
Sound: mono

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Argos Films

SCRIPT
Script: Chris Marker

DIRECTION
Director: Chris Marker

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Jean Chiabaud

EDITING AND POST PRODUCTION
Editor: Jean Ravel

MUSIC
Music: Trevor Duncan
Music Performed By: Choirs of the Cathedral of St Alexandre Newski

SOUND
Sound: Antoine Bonfanti

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: C.S. Olaf

CAST
Jean Negroni [narrator]
Hélene Chatelain
Davos Hanich
Jacques Ledoux
William Klein
Ligia Borowczyk
Andre Heinrich
Jacques Branchu
Philbert Von Lifchitz
Pierre Joffroy
Etienne Becker
Janine Klein
Germano Facetti

In a post-apocalyptic Paris, a man haunted by a childhood memory of a man being shot to death at an airport takes part in a time travel experiment to see if he can retrieve both much needed supplies and some sort of explanation for the catastrophe that has ruined his world. In the past, he falls in love with a woman he meets and finds that his fate is inextricably tied up with his memories.

A stunning achievement that manages to do more with a handful of still images in half an hour than many films can manage in two hours. More intellectually challenging and profound than it's big budget Hollywood remake, Twelve Monkeys [1995], which is just as remarkable in its own right, but less haunting than Marker's original. A masterpiece that should be seen at least once.

UK
Video Distributor: Nouveau Entertainment [NP0008]

USA
Theatrical Distributors: Acturus Films; Contemporary

UK
Rating: U; PG

AWARDS

1963
Prix Jean Vigo
Short Film [Chris Marker] - winner

1984
February
17: Finland - theatrical release

1994
February
10: UK - certified PG by the BBFC [for video release]

1997
September
22: UK - certified PG by the BBFC [for video release]

October
13: UK - video release [Nouveau Entertainment [NP0008]]

REMAKE
Twelve Monkeys [1995]

SEE ALSO
Vertigo [1958]
Amityville 1992: It's About Time [1992]

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys [1996]

MAGAZINES

Cinématheque no.12 [1997] [France]
article [Un film "lazaréen": La Jetée de Chris Marker by Jean-Luc Alpigiano]

The Movie pp.1214-1215 [UK]
credits, review

Positif no.433 [March 1997] [France]
article [Le présent du futut sur La Jetée by Barthélemy Amengual]

BOOKS

Film as a Subversive Art p.23
review

Reference Guide to Fantastic Films p.231
credits

post apocalypse; time travel; time loops; paris; airports; memories

Last Updated: 6 March, 2007