Sans Soleil

Stars: Alexandra Stewart (narrator). You know you're in for trouble when a filmmaker announces right from the get that "only banality still interests me." Banality is mostly just what filmmaker Chris Marker offers in this contrasting look at high-tech Tokyo and low-tech Africa. A woman's voiceover narration (Alexandra Stewart) reads letters from the cameraman commenting on what he is filming, ranging from a Japanese couple making their devotions at a pet cemetery to an in-depth analysis of Hitchcock's Vertigo. Marker is ostensibly looking for those images and ideas which "quicken the heart." Unfortunately, excepting a brief excursion to a museum filled with giant sculptured phalluses and some snippets from Japanese soft-core porn films, there's going to be precious little here that will quicken the hearts of American video watchers. As an added bonus, the narration often takes on the quality of modern poetry: obscure, endlessly self-referential, and esoteric in the extreme. How many people are going to know that Marker's allusions to "The Zone" stem from a 1979 Russian film by Andrei Tarkovsky, for instance? There's a big difference between being esoteric and being wise. I believe it was the philosophical team of Guns 'N Roses who said in the title of their latest musical opus "Use Yer Illusions." Marker's Sans Soleil has many allusions, they're just not used well. Audience: People who are interested in the banal. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review—July 24, 2007—Criterion, 103 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, $39.95—Making its first appearance on DVD, 1983's Sans Soleil features a great transfer with Dolby Digital mono sound. DVD extras include the 1963 film La Jetée (27 min.), two interviews with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin (42 min. total), a “Chris on Chris” video piece on director Chris Marker (10 min.) by filmmaker and critic Chris Darke, excerpts from the French TV series Court-circuit that analyze Hitchcock's Vertigo and its influence on Marker (9 min.) and look at David Bowie's video for “Jump They Say” and the ways it pays homage to La Jetée (2 min.), a booklet featuring a new essay by Marker scholar Catherine Lupton, an interview with Marker, and notes on the films and filmmaking by Marker. Bottom line: a fine extras package for an unremarkable film.][Blu-ray Review—Feb. 14, 2012—Criterion, 130 min., not rated, $39.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, La Jetée / Sans Soleil (1963/1983) sports a great transfer and a mono soundtrack. Blu-ray extras include “Chris on Chris” on director Chris Marker by film critic Chris Darke (10 min.), excerpts from the French TV series Court-circuit that analyze Hitchcock's Vertigo and its influence on Marker (9 min.), Marker's 1981 short film “Junkopia” (6 min.), two interviews with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin (41 min. total), a look at David Bowie's “Jump They Say” music video (2 min.), and a booklet featuring a new essay by Marker scholar Catherine Lupton, an interview with Marker, and notes by Marker. Bottom line: a fine extras package for this art film double-feature.]