
La jetée
1962, Sci fi, 28m
27 Reviews 5,000+ RatingsWhat to know
critics consensus
La Jetée pioneers new storytelling possibilities by shaving an ambitious science-fiction narrative down to its bare essentials, achieving a transporting texture with each still frame. Read critic reviews
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Cast & Crew
Narrator

The Woman
The Man
The Experimenter
News & Interviews for La jetée
Critic Reviews for La jetée
All Critics (27) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (25) | Rotten (2)
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Each black-and-white frame is striking, dynamic, surprising, and tragic; they mark you forever.
April 15, 2019 | Full Review… -
One of the best of all SF films is this haunting, apocalyptic 27-minute French short by the great Chris Marker.
June 6, 2007 | Full Review… -
The soundtrack's texture is similarly sparse, and the fluid montage leads the viewer into the sensation of watching moving images. Until, that is, an extraordinary epiphany when an image genuinely does move.
June 24, 2006 | Full Review… -
I find it tediously pretentious, but there are striking images in it, and it does get across a vague impression of Frankensteinian meddling with the brain.
May 9, 2005 | Rating: 2.5/5 | Full Review… -
This is Marker's masterpiece.
November 21, 2003 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review… -
Operatic melodies and sensational orchestral music by Trevor Duncan make the film incredibly powerful, even at a mere 28 minutes in length.
August 24, 2020 | Rating: 9/10 | Full Review…
Audience Reviews for La jetée
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Feb 05, 2019Consisting (almost) entirely of still-shot black-and-white photographs and a male voiceover narration, this is a mesmerizing, poetic and influential photo-roman that uses an intriguing science-fiction concept to discuss memories and our temporal relationship with them.Carlos M Super Reviewer
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Oct 20, 2018The story is interesting and influential, and I give this short film credit for being groundbreaking in the area of time travel (and/or time loops, time paradoxes, etc). It captures the science fiction aspects and its dystopian elements well, but it also has very humanistic touches in the elusiveness of those little moments in time with someone you love, and how all of us in the end cannot escape time. Unfortunately, the storytelling left me flat both times I watched it. The repetition of still images, the monotone delivery, and slow pace made it tough to fully enjoy. It's a good cure for insomnia though.Antonius B Super Reviewer
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Jan 17, 2015The hallmark of French science fiction films, La Jetée is a time travel romantic drama where a man is being sent back to the past before the apocalypse occurred and he fell in love with a woman. The film is presented with still images and a narration. I got the same feeling as I watched A Trip to the Moon, it's simple yet serene.Sylvester K Super Reviewer
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Mar 16, 2013La Jetee is a phenomenal sci-fi movie, and Chris Marker inspired me with this. The story of time is told purely off picture stills and a narrator, but it is more powerful than most films with live actors. Sure this craft has been imitated, but it's never been made as lividly as Marker made it. With in the opening minutes I already forgot that these were just pictures. The story begins complicated, and the concluding made me contemplate everything I've considered to be true. At under thirty minutes the film wastes no time, but it doesn't feel rushed. Absolutely brilliant and memorable.Daniel D Super Reviewer
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