La Jetée

Year: 1962
Director: Chris Marker
Length: 28mins

Chris Marker is a french writer, photographer, artist, film essayist and- of course- film director. he was born in 1921. still alive.

Little is known on marker's early life. Most people known is that Alain Resnais brought Marker to film marking with three years collaboration, Before making film he was a journalist.

Majority film work of Christ Marker are documentary. And this film, La Jetee is one of his a few fiction film and also the famous one. La jetee is important key film of Left bank film movement.

So, what is Left Bank Film?

Left bank is a subgroup of the french new wave film movement, as a kind of intellectual, political, feminist, literary, aesthetic and avant- garde wing of new wave. the two groups aren't opposite, instead they are friends, cooperators and allies.

Left bank main members are: Alain Resnais, Chris Maker, Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy. 

And how about this film, and what is the story ?

La jetee is about time travelling, a science fiction film. It was constructed entirely by thousands  black and white still picture. the background set on the postwar and destroyed city -Paris, the main character is a prison who has a strong children time memory about a man be killed in the airport (la jetee), and he is sent to past, in the old times he meets a girl  and falls in love with her... he tries to escape from the present world, and is chased and shoot by the agent from present. Finally, he realise he is the man who be killed in his memory.

social and political issue:
you can say La Jetee is an anti-war film, because it shows the ruins of Paris. in this film.

contrast:
present- the post apocalyptic city, people only live in the dark underground, where is full of the white noise: like generator and radio wave sound.

past- before destroying, the upper ground world is sunshine and bright. the background sound is people, animal natural sound.       
     
museum/ gallery : survivors dwell in underground of Palais de Chaillot galleries. when the main role comes back to the past, he go to date a girl in the museum.

aesthetic:
Chris Marker is also known as photographer, that's easy to understand why he can take stunning pictures to compose this classic film, you can see almost all the still images are well-designed, like a poem.

Ways of Seeing / John Berger - Ch.1 reading notes

In the beginning of the article, the writer states that the ways of how we see is an act of choice, is affected by our belief and knowledge. We are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves, and what was relative to your position in time and space.

When an image is seen as a work of art, beholders may consider about its myth, authenticity, market value and also the assumptions of art, i.e. beauty, truth, genius, civilization, form, status, taste. However, these assumptions change their meanings time by time. That may cause the primal and first relation losing between the image and experience of beholders and lead to culture mystification of the past.

In the early Renaissance, the convention of perspective was established. This convention puts the eyes of the spectator in the centre of the visible world. In addition, it seems that the whole visible world is arranged for the spectator.

After the camera was invented, this concept was challenged, this invention proves and demonstrates the centre of the visible world is not exist. The meaning of seeing is changed, and that conversion was reflected in painting. Different views were depicted in the one piece of artwork.

The invention of camera also destroyed the uniqueness of work of art, and the paintings can be reproduced. Moreover, these reproductions are been given new meanings through the their different and new purposes and sequence of viewing.

Reproduction also be seen as kind of information, it travels and its meaning is also diversified.

The meaning of original work is no longer depended on what it says, but on what it is. Therefore, the original artwork maintains its own authority.