Film Analysis Of La Jetée, By Chris Marke

La Jetée takes place in a post-world wasteland, set in a dystopian future, which follows the story of an unnamed hero who is sent back in time in search of a solution to replace the world’s decreasing stocks of food, medicine, and energy. La Jetée in its entirety, can be defined as a philosophical fiction which tackles themes of time, memory, and perception. Considered being more of a photo novel than a film, La Jetée is comprised almost entirely of still images. These black and white images are infused with transitions as well as an active soundtrack, and a narrator telling the story of what the images mean.

“This is the story of a man marked by an image from his childhood.” That is the opening line (the first piece of narration we hear) of Chris Marker’s film. And this line is in fact a very good representation of what this film attempts to explore in its

In consequence, and following the normality of things, where the regard of science as a given is widely-spread, at least in western cultures, the notion of a current present in decay leaves us with no choice but to believe that the future is directly threatened, far out of reach, and eventually even non-existent. For this reason, and given the human race’s need for some sort of temporal reference - an attempt to validate the inner urge and constant struggle for survival, the inhabitants of Chris Marker’s radioactive Paris, the researchers, and even at a later stage, our main character, start to believe that the only escape and potential resolution to this ultimately cynical dilemma, is indeed the past.

Right from the opening shot, the film establishes the themes of the illusion of time, and movement. Chris Marker uses the still photograph of an airport, and uses image transition techniques to have it appear alive, and moving in