La Jetée is like a silent film. Just that it has a continuous narrative voice with sequence of still images, while in a silent film there’re continuous moving pictures with still images of narrative notes from time to time. It’s a strange yet pleasant experience you feel your sense of vision and hearing are altered.
The whole film is composed of (almost) all still images, the only exception is the scene in which the girl woke up and blinked. But it’s nothing like you’re viewing a powerpoint slides or whatever. The different cuts, zooms and fade-outs between scenes make it feel like as natural as motion pictures. I love the ending scene while the man saw the girl at the back of the pier, the pictures cut much quickly, formed a haste and anxiety mood and eventually led to the the dramatic ending.
I don’t really wish to talk much about story but I especially appreciate the setting that you need strong mental power and particular connection to the past to travel through time (this is a little bit like Butterfly Effects). I do love Twelve Monkeys as well. Time travel is hot topic in science fiction and this one is really a nice catch as a short film. It’s amazing that so many elements are included in one short story, although it may not be as extreme as ALL YOU ZOMBIES by Robert A. Heinlein (link to wiki entry).
The black and white pictures are so beautiful that any still frame could be a wonderful artwork of photography. I keep imagining that all frames from the film are placed side by side in a gallery, and that you could navigate along by walking with the narrator voice in the air.
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