Sans Soleil La Jetee - Chris Marker

directed by Chris Marker

One of the most influential, radical science-fiction films ever made and a mind-bending free-form travelogue, La Jetee and Sans Soleil couldn't seem more different--yet they're the twin pillars of one of the most daring and uncompromising careers in cinema history. Chris Marker, filmmaker, poet, novelist, photographer, editor, and now videographer and digital multimedia artist, has been challenging moviegoers, philosophers, and himself for years with his complex queries about time, memory, and the rapid advancement of life on this planet. These two films--a tale of time travel told in still images and a journey to Africa and Japan--remain his best-loved and most widely seen.

DVD Comparison:

Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover

Distribution

Nouveaux Pictures

Region 2 - PAL

Criterion Collection - Spine # 387

Region 1 - NTSC

(aka "The Pier" or "Terrassen")

directed by Chris Marker
France 1962

La Jetee’s fans insist that it’s the finest science fiction film ever made, and why not? It’s truly unique, implementing a series of hundreds of unmoving pictures, beautifully edited together to tell a mind-bending story of time travel that doubles as a melancholy fable about memory, loss, childhood, and destiny. Only for a moment is there any action on screen (besides the implied action in the cuts from shot to shot), and that motion is one of the cinema’s most profound. It's no exaggeration, finally, to say that La Jetee may represent film's closest approach to poetry.

Excerpt from Bryan Fraser's Deep Focus review located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release:

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DVD Comparison:

Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC

Big thanks to Arvid for the Review!

(Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL LEFT vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC RIGHT)

DVD Box Cover
Distribution	Nouveaux Pictures Region 2 - PAL	Criterion Collection - Spine # 387 Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	0:26:36 (4% PAL speedup)	0:28:05
Video	1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7,34 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.55 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate : Nouveaux
Bitrate : Criterion
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2.0	French, English Dolby Digital 1.0
Subtitles	none	English, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Nouveaux Pictures Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.66:1 Edition Details: • Chris on Chris (09:36, 4:3) • Booklet • Marker's Sans Soleil on the same disc DVD Release Date: 2003-07-28 Keep Case Chapters 0	Release Information: Studio: Criterion Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.66:1 Edition Details: • New video interview with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin • Chris on Chris, a video piece on Marker by filmmaker and critic Chris Darke • Two excerpts from the French TV series Court-circuit (le magazine), directed by Luc Lagier: the first, a look at David Bowie’s music video for “Jump They Say,” inspired by La Jetée; the second, an analysis of Hitchcock's Vertigo and its influences on Marker • 46-page liner notes booklet DVD Release Date: June 26th, 2007 Transparent Keep Case Chapters 10 + 25

Comments:

ADDITION: Criterion June 07': As expected the Criterion image is better - greater detail (Marker approved) and even shows a shade more information in the frame. It is original mono (in choice of both French and English with English subtitles also optional) with a host of great extras (Guillaume approved) - it amounts to being no contest. I particularly enjoyed the booklet included.

"This is an exploding world in one compact package: Sans soleil is a handbook of the infinite ways in which it is possible to experience the world...La jetée is one of the most haunting pictures ever made."

Excerpt fdrom the NY Times HERE

***

Arvid on the Nouveaux: The anamorphic mage looks absolutely stunning. No traces of edge enchantment, sharp and clear. The Extra-feature Chris on Chris (An insight into Chris Marker by Chris Darke) is short but gives some interesting info about Marker. One small thing i don't like is that the French audio-track isn't included, I'd seen it with the French audio in the theater some months ago and I prefer it to the English audio. However, marker himself prefers the English version so i guess that's why it isn't on. With Sans Sioleil on the same disc it's a wonderful DVD.

- Arvid

DVD Menus

(Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL LEFT vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC RIGHT)

Screen Captures

(Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC BOTTOM)

French text introduction (Narrated in English)

(Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC BOTTOM)

(Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC BOTTOM)

(Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC BOTTOM)

(aka "Sunless" or "Bez solntsa Sunless Sans soleil")

directed by Chris Marker
France 1983

Imagine getting letters from a friend in Japan, letters full of images, sounds and ideas. Your friend is an inveterate globe-trotter, and his letters are full of memories of other trips. He has a wry and very engaging sense of humour, he's a movie fan, he used to be quite an activist (though he was never much into 'ideology'), and he's thoughtful and very well read. In his letters, he wants to share with you the faces that have caught his eye, the events that made him smile or weep, the places where he's felt at home. He wants to tell you stories, but he can't find a story big enough to deal with his sense of contrasts, his wish to grasp fleeting moments, his recurring memories. Above all he hopes to excite you, to share his secrets with you, to consolidate your friendship. Now stop imagining things and go to see Sans Soleil, in which Marker, the cinema's greatest essayist, sums up a lifetime's travels, speculations and passions. Among very many other things, his film is the most intimate portrait of Tokyo yet made.

Excerpt from the TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Theatrical Release: February 1983 (Berlin International Film Festival)

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Comparison:

Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC

Big thanks to Arvid for the Review!

(Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL LEFT vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC RIGHT)

DVD Box Cover
Distribution	Noveaux Pictures Region 2 - PAL	Criterion Collection - Spine # 387 Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:39:27 (4% PAL speedup)	1:43:52
Video	1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7,36 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.55 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate : Nouveaux
Bitrate : Criterion
Audio	English Dolby Digital 2.0	French, English Dolby Digital 1.0
Subtitles	none	English, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Noveaux Pictures Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.66:1 Edition Details: • Chris on Chris (09:36, 4:3) • Booklet • Marker's La JetÃ©e on the same disc DVD Release Date: 2003-07-28 Keep Case Chapters 13	Release Information: Studio: Criterion Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.66:1 Edition Details: • New video interview with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin • Chris on Chris, a video piece on Marker by filmmaker and critic Chris Darke • Two excerpts from the French TV series Court-circuit (le magazine), directed by Luc Lagier: the first, a look at David Bowie’s music video for “Jump They Say,” inspired by La Jetée; the second, an analysis of Hitchcock's Vertigo and its influences on Marker • 46-page liner notes booklet DVD Release Date: June 26th, 2007 Transparent Keep Case Chapters 10 + 25

Comments:

Excerpt from the NY Times HERE

Arvid on the Nouveaux: This movie includes a lot of journal-films, filmed tv-screens and other peoples material so the image isn't perfect all the way, but I guess this DVD is about as good as it's possible to make this look. the audio is good to, sharp and clear. I don't know if it's the same deal as with la jetee here, that it originally had an French audio track, but if that is the case it's sad that we don't get the option. but why complain with a fantastic disc like this?

- Arvid

DVD Menus

(Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL LEFT vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC RIGHT)

Screen Captures

(Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC BOTTOM)

(Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC BOTTOM)

(Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC BOTTOM)

(Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC BOTTOM)

(Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC BOTTOM)

(Nouveaux Pictures - Region 2 - PAL TOP vs. Criterion - Region 1- NTSC BOTTOM)

DVD Box Cover

Distribution
Noveaux Pictures

Region 2 - PAL

Criterion Collection - Spine # 387

Region 1 - NTSC

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