Director Dominique Cabrera's cousin sees Chris Marker's LE JETE and becomes convinced that the image is of himself and his parents. This begins a crazy quest to figure out if this was indeed the case and along the way we get a look at the changes in society since the early 1960's, the Algerian war, immigration, film making, photography, Chris Marker and the director's family.
For those who don't know LE JETE is a science fiction short (kind of remade as Terry Gilliam's 12 MONKEYS) about a dystopian future where a man with a vivid memory of his past is part of an experiement to go back in time to change the past to save the future. It's told almost entirely with voice over and stills.
This is a great ride. The quest to find out if this is indeed the directors cousin is a compelling one. It's a really cool detective story that had me dying to know what happened next. I also enjoyed all of the other threads that are inside the film as well.
As compelling as the film is, the film has one small problem which will not take away from your enjoyment of the film, and that is I don't know if I need to see it again. Yes I enjoyed it, yes I am whole heartedly recommending it, but I don't know if will require a second viewing because once the story is told and we get to the end, you realize that while the mystery is compelling, the story telling is not. It's a lot of people sitting looking at screens. Its not visually engaing. DOn't get me wrong, I love the film and I highly recommend it, but I don't know if you'll revisit it.
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