La Jetee

La Jetee ~ This is an interesting little film, and by little, I mean it. It's just under a half-hour long. Written and directed by Chris Marker, it was apparently the inspiration for 1995's 12 Monkeys. This is how I first encountered it. When 12 Monkeys was in theaters, I was working in a video rental store and everyone wanted to see the inspiration for the flick. Needless to say, there were not a lot of customers who were happy with this award-winning twenty-eight minute black and white art film from 1962. That's not to say its not good, let's just say it's different, and not what they expected.

La Jetee is almost exactly the stereotype we mainstream American movie goers think of when we think of a French film. It's arty, subtitled or dubbed (from two different languages), avant garde, hard to understand, and makes 1980s jeans commercials seem to have more depth. And then there's the weirdness of it not actually being a 'motion picture' at all - it's composed of all still shots with voiceover.

Want to give an unsophisticated American Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis fan a headache? Here you go, all in one half-hour package. I remember I had several customers raise a stink not wanting to pay for the rentals for reasons ranging from 'it's not a real movie' to the more direct 'it sucks.' Sorry, no refunds, even for this.

Not being what one would expect is not necessarily bad. La Jetee is just different, very different from 12 Monkeys, but thematically so however. We're still dealing with time travel, just not traditionally so, like its American cousin. In post-nuclear World War III Paris, scientists are trying to send people to the past and to the future in order to save their present, prevent the war, and save civilization. Paradoxes occur and our hero is on the run, haunted by a childhood memory, but eventually things come full circle in an ending that would make O. Henry smile.

If you remove 12 Monkeys from the equation and from your head, La Jetee can be quite compelling and you'll forget all the obstacles that may at first seem hard to get over. The twenty-eight minutes fly by as you're pulled into this world and this man's journey. Marker blends striking imagery with an intriguing storytelling style to create a startling vision. Worth seeing, those long ago video store customers didn't know what they were talking about.

A Shock to the System

AN APOLOGY TO LISA

A Video Review of A Shock to the System

Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker

When you work in a video store you get to know the regular customers pretty well. The subject of conversation is usually movies. What's good. What's bad. Sometimes you can become fairly friendly and talk about real stuff. Lisa was one of those regulars. She was and still is a good friend. Her taste in movies however was hideous. So when she recommended A Shock to the System to me as 'the best movie she'd ever seen' I dismissed it right away based on the crap she usually rented. Having just seen this Michael Caine epic I owe her an apology. A big apology.



* SPOILERS *

It begins as an office drama a la Wall Street or Working Girl, which would normally put me to sleep. I don't work in cubicle hell and I don't want to watch it for entertainment, "Dilbert" be damned. Michael Caine is an aging businessman overlooked for a promotion that goes to a younger more cutthroat man. Circumstances allow him to off his shrewish wife, get into the pants of his secretary and ultimately murder the man who took his job.

This web of lies and destruction is all undercut by Caine's narration as a man obsessed with a magician analogy. The writing of Andrew Klaven based on the Simon Brett novel is perfect. The direction of Jan Egleson is eclectic and non-stop tension.

It is not often that a murderer is your protagonist and even rarer that you root for him. You actually want Michael Caine to win. You want him to get away with it. This is a credit to the script and of course the talent of Caine himself. Bravo.

A Shock to the System is an excellent film not to be missed. My apologies to Lisa for doubting you.

What Not to Rent at the Video Store

WHAT NOT TO RENT AT THE VIDEO STORE

Copyright 2002 Glenn Walker

It's Friday night and you don't want to go out. You just want to snuggle on the sofa with your honey with a few videos and some Orville Redenbacher's Sweet 'n Buttery Gourmet Popping Corn (the absolutely best popcorn on Earth, no contest).

So it's off to the video store, yes, one of life's great adventures. First you have to choose a video store. If they want blood and urine samples to rent, that's a bad choice of video store. If their foreign section is only one shelf, the sign says "F'ern," and the staff thinks Fellini makes pizza down the street, bad choice. If the employees are playing makeshift basketball with a mannequin head and a trash can on the counter, bad choice. If the movie posters in the window are for Titanic and Patch Adams and are bleached white from the sun, no. If they have a Jean Claude Van Damme section under 'drama,' uh uh. And if they have Moulin Rouge playing on the monitors, run, don't walk to the exit.

Once inside, how do you know what to look for? There are so many movies, literally thousands. Or more importantly, how do you know what not to look for?

First if you're at Blockbuster, avoid the staff picks at all costs. If these people knew anything about movies they wouldn't be working at Blockbuster, right? At any other store the staff picks might be worth a look.

The new movies, if there are more than five copies left, forget it. It sucks and obviously no one wants it, unless it's the first week it's out and the public at large doesn't know any better yet.

Ask other customers what to see. Don't ask the staff (unless you actually know them outside the store) because they'll say anything to get you to rent anything. It's their job, it's what they get paid to do. Other customers are in the same quandry you are and word of mouth is always the best recommendation (my opinions notwithstanding).

When walking through the store tapes with dust on them are usually bad choices. Now, when you find a tape hidden behind other tapes (especially those with dust on them) this is a good choice. Someone has hidden it so no one else can rent it and they're saving ot for next time. This is a winner.

Look for warning labels on the movies. For instance, avoid any films whose boxes carry words like "Adam Sandler," "Robin Williams," "Billy Crystal," Moulin Rouge or any movie with numbers after the title. Any thing that has Ebert & Roper giving a 'thumbs up' to is also a bad sign.

So remember: no staff picks, no dust, no Blockbuster and no Adam Sandler. Good luck!


Reprinted from the Project: Popcorn website at:
http://www.whitevioletpictures.com/popcorn/