La Jetée (1962) Dystopian Noir Short from the Twilight Zone

Written and directed by Chris Marker. Cinematography by Chris Marker and Jean Chiabaut, edited by Jean Ravel. Music by Trevor Duncan.

The film stars Jean Négroni, Narrator, Hélène Chatelain as The Woman, Davos Hanich as The Man, Jacques Ledoux as The Experimenter, with André Heinrich, Jacques Branchu, Pierre Joffroy as the Assassin with glasses. 

Story

Black screen. Your ears fill with the soaring whine of jet engines before the screen fills with Orly Airport. Paris. Some time before WWIII.

We see one end of La Jetée, what we call now a "Gate." Of course, since its a Noir, this title does has a double meaning, its about a "Portal."

At Orly, circa 1962, it was just one big gate punctured in the middle by the control tower, which is probably just behind us. The deal here, which some of you reading this will remember, is actually the Terrace of La Jetée. 

Back in the 1960s I remember Idlewild (before it was JFK) having outside terraces on the roofs of the arrival and departure gates. You could stand on the roof and watch your dads plane leave the gate, taxi to the the designated runway, and take off.

So we are looking at the Terrace of La Jetée. There are evenly spaced, glass enclosed stairwell / foul weather shelters, along the length of the observation terrace. We see three Boing 707s  sitting on the tarmac. The sound of the jets changes to a choir singing "Tropaire en l'honneur de la Sainte Croix" as the credits roll.

A voice over tells us that this is the story of a man haunted by a vison from his childhood. At Orly, parents took their children to the Terrace to watch the planes take off and land. A cheap diversion. He remembers a setting sun and a woman's face. We are told that he's not even sure if it was real or an image of a tender moment he created to get through the madness to come.

Then there's sudden violence, a crumpling body and the terrace is blurred by fear. Later he knew he had seen a man die. And sometime later it all goes Noirsville with the destruction of Paris.

Many died and some believed themselves the victors, Others were taken prisoner. The survivors settled below Challiot in and underground network of galleries. 

The prisoners were subjected to experiments. Space was out of the question and the only hope for survival for remaining mankind was to escape into time. This was the purpose of the experiments. The man was selected because he had a strong childhood memory.

Noirsville

Davos Hanich as The Man

Hélène Chatelain as The Woman

Jacques Ledoux as The Experimenter

This is a beautifully put together short, that tells a good story. It should be an inspiration to every creative mind out there illustrating what anybody can do with a cell phone, a story and an editing program. Singularly or with a creative circle of friends you can do a film like this. The only film footage is a short few seconds when laying abed the woman opens her eyes. Won three awards. Bravo 10/10.