La Jetee review

Figure 1: Poster (1962)

La Jetee directed by Chris marker is a still image film, but it is not stopmotion. Scenes are told through montage edited images which are narrated over.  This film  is a strange and new experience because this style is not commonly used in modern film. The experience is similar to an audio books, but without some of the imaginative qualities that reading gives.

Figure 2: Le Jetee (1962)

This film is an example of how good story telling can created a great film without the use of special effects. Patrick Samuel says it best in his review " the impact is far stronger compared to other films"(Samuel, 2013), this is possibly because it forces the audience to use their imagination  which is better and more real to them than special  effects.

Figure 3: Lady in bed(1962)

The story itself is quite interesting, Simon Sellars pointed out the films "haunting ability to evoke the emotions of love and desire"(Sellars, 2005). It is clear the man protagonist would give anything to be with the  mysterious  lady and this desire is ultimately his downfall as it triggers each event creating an equilibrium. additionally the photos want to move this is shown best in the scene in which the female character wakes up, the photos literally  came to life. After watching a slideshow style movie seeing actual movement is refreshing to see the film use a different media.

The pacing of the film works very well to keep the spectators interested, because of the pacing a good level of suspense is built. Damien cannon makes a good point when he says "The basic structures of cinema are stripped bare and revealed unadorned"(Cannon, 1962) the film is very simple in its application  of film techniques and in this case less is more.

Illustration List 

Figure 1: poster. (1948) [poster] Available From: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f7/La_Jetee_Poster.jpg (accessed 12/01/2015)

Figure 2: Le Jetee (1962) [Film still]Available From: 

http://www.fsgso.pitt.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/la-jetee.gif (accessed 12/01/2015)

Figure 3 :Lady in bed(1962) [Online image]Available From: 

https://38.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7z9m6fc2H1qhk3zwo1_500.gif (accessed 12/01/2015)

Bibliography

Cannon, D. (1962) La Jetee Reveiw. At: http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/Jetee.html (accessed 12/01/2015)

Samuel, P. (2013) La Jetee Review. At: http://staticmass.net/world/la-jetee-1962-review/ (accessed 12/01/2015)

Sellars, S. (2005) La Jetee Review. At: http://www.ballardian.com/la-jetee (accessed 12/01/2015)