Chris Marker

Chris Marker , pseudonym of Christian-François Stop-Villeneuve is a documentary writer, photographer and realizer born July 29th 1921 with Neuilly-sur-Seine (France). Its most famous films are the Pier , the Fund of the air is red and Without sun .

Biography

It follows the courses of Philosophie of Jean-Paul Sartre and obtains a license (cf the series the heritage of the Owl , 1989, 16 mm). During the Second world war, it joined the Résistance as a parachutist. It is of this period, where it starts to note all, which it draws its pseudonym “Marker” (according to the article of Boussinot in Dictionnaire of the films ). It is then employed by UNESCO, which enables him to traverse the world. He visits many countries Socialiste S, and gives an account of what he sees there in his films and the reviews in which he collaborates.

Its international repute came with the Short film the Pier (1962), which tells scientific experiments to accomplish temporal voyages in an post-apocalyptic world. The only fiction of Marker is paradoxically its most known work and only from which he says to learn only with regret the diffusion. The shape of this film is that of an assembly of still images, whose a continuation results from “photographs” conferring a completely particular and deeply original atmosphere to him, though disconcerting. Thanks to the process of the comment in voice off , that Marker uses in many its works, the author manages to make pass in its film its literary talent. This style releases an extraordinary emotion with the soft-bitter tonality, which undoubtedly made it beg by Alexandre Medvedkine, elder of Marker which will pay homage in to him the tomb of Alexandre, to make the effort write “a little, only a little”. However, one of the rare books of Marker, the novel the heart Net , remains untraceable today because of will of its author whom this work is not read. the pier inspires inter alia Terry Gilliam for its Armée with the twelve monkeys .

In 1982, Without sun extends the limits of the “documentary” kind. It is a Essai, a Montage, mixing parts of documentary and fiction with philosophical comments. This mixture creates an atmosphere of dream and Science-fiction. The main themes are the Japan, the memory and the voyage. The title of film is drawn from the cycle of songs Without sun of Modest Mussorgsky.

With Without sun , Marker develops an unquestionable interest for the digital techniques, which carries out it to carry out the film Level Five with the actress Catherine Belkhodja that it puts in scene around a reflection on the battle of Okinawa. Although often classified wrongly like documentary, this film in is not less one fiction mingled with truths testimonys on the battle with Okinawa. Catherine Belkhodja will be also the central figure of a splendid video installation, ordered to commemorate the Centenary of the Cinema: Silent Movie (this exposure will make the round the world tour of the largest museums but presented forever in France) and IMMEMORY ONE (1998), a CD-ROM multi-media interactive, produced by the National center of art and culture Georges-Pompidou.

All the films of Chris Marker are committed politically and want to be revolutionary (in the broad sense). Beijing, Cuba, Siberia (communist) is the places of predilection of its documentary. He treated much topics of the fight against oppression (war, conflicts, Vietnam, Bosnia-Herzégovine), of the trade-union and working fight. pretty May is thus an at the same time moral and sociological chronicle on Paris of the years 1960, which pre-empts the events of May 1968, and which more precisely tackles the problem of the perception of the independence of Algeria in metropolis and the lawsuit of the generals of the putsch of Algiers (which was held in Paris six years before in May 1962), or the bottom of the air is red , grouping SLON (Company of Launching of New Works. SLON also means “Russian elephant”). One of its first documentary, the statues dies also , Co-realized by Alain Resnais is a test on the reception of the African works of art in metropolis and is very influenced by the topic malraussien of the “imaginary Museum”. Through the idea that the colonial system autolégitime politically by maintaining a anti-history point of view of on the traditions and the inheritance of the people of which it ensures the administration, the film binds in the same movement the denunciation of the cultural imperialism and the criticism of the dysfunction economic rising from this type of mode - what explains its long censure in France.

It also carried out various portraits of scenario writers like One day of Andrei Arsenevitch on Andrei Tarkovsky and A.K on Akira Kurosawa.

Chris Marker currently lives with Paris and does not give an interview, thus maintaining the mystery which surrounds its character. One learns nevertheless much on him through his works, and from this point of view the CD-ROM Immemory is undoubtedly that where it reveals the most intimate things, in particular through the evocations of memories of childhood - Marker refers to Proust besides, undoubtedly finding in the constant reflection of the novelist over the memory and time matter with reflection on the topics which haunt its own works.

Its films are regularly projected in France, about fifteen of them are visible with the Forum of the images in a permanent way.

Quotations

"Chris Marker, it is a little most famous of the scenario writers inconnus." (Theorem n°6: Research on Chris Marker)
" But the tools exist now - and it is completely new - so that a cinema of the intimacy, loneliness, a cinema worked out in face to face with oneself - that of the painter or the writer - has access to another space that of the film expérimental." (Discussion with Dolores Walfisch)
" It would be necessary to shave the Sorbonne and to put Chris Marker at the place" (Henri Michaux)
" The chance has intuitions that one should not take for coïncidences" (Chris Marker - Used at the time of the exposure the Image according to, the French Cineclub, Paris, 2007)

Catalog of films

The marked films (DVD) are available on this support.

Olympia 52 (1952), 82 min
the Statues die also (1953), 30 min, corealized with Alain Resnais, (DVD)
Nuit and fog (1955), 32 min, assistant of Alain Resnais, (DVD)
Sunday in Beijing (1956), 22 min
Lettre of Siberia (1957), 62 min
the Astronauts (1959), 15 min, corealized with Walerian Borowczyk
Description of a combat (1960), 60 min
¡ Cuba Sí! (1961), 52 min
the Pier (1962), 28 min, (DVD/There exists a Criterion version containing an interview of Chris Marker)
1962: has Valparaiso Joris Ivens, 29 min, text
Pretty May (1963), 165 min
the Mystery Koumiko (1965), 54 min
If I had four dromedaries (1966), 49 min
Far from Vietnam (1967), 115 min, collective film.
Rhodiacéta (1967), (DVD)
has soon, I hope for (1968), 55 min, corealized with Mario Marret, (DVD)
the Sixth face of the pentagon (1968), 28 min, corealized with François Reichenbach
Cinétracts (1968)
One speaks to you about Brazil (1969), 20 min
Jour of turning (1969), 11 min
Classe of fight (1969), (DVD)
the Words have a direction (1970), 20 min
Carlos Marighella (1970), 17 min
the Battle of the ten million (1971), 58 min
the Train goes (1971) from there, 32 min
One speaks to you about Prague: the second lawsuit of Artur London (1971)
Lives the whale (1972), 30 min
the Embassy (1973), 20 min
the Loneliness of the basic singer (1974), 60 min (on Yves Montand)
the Fund of the air is red (1977), 240 min (gone up in 1993 and decreased to 180 min)
Junkiopa (1981), 6 min
Without Sun (1983), 100 min, (DVD)
2084 (1984), 10 min
From Chris to Christo (1985)
A.K (1985), 71 min (on Akira Kurosawa), (DVD)
Memories for Simone (1986), 61 min, also entitled Homage to Simone Signoret
the Heritage of the owl (1989), 13 episodes of 26 min
Berliner ballade (1990), 25 min
the Tomb ofAlexandre (1992), 120 min (on Alexandre Ivanovitch Medvedkine), (DVD)
the Factor always sounds horse (1992)
the 20 hours in the camps (1993)
Blue helmet (1995), 26 min
Level Five (1997), 110 min
Éclipse (1999)
One day of Andrei Arsenevitch (1999), 55 min (on Andrei Tarkovsky) (DVD)
It To remember a future (2001)
perched Cats (2004) (on Thoma Vuille) (DVD)

Written works

the heart Net, collection " Esprit" , the Threshold, Paris (1949)
the man and his freedom: play for taken care the, coll " Veillées" , n°4, the Threshold, Paris (1949)
Giraudoux by itself, coll " writers of toujours" , n°8, the Threshold, Paris (1952)
China, open door, the Threshold, Paris, (1956)
Korean, coll " short métrage" , n°1, the Threshold, Paris (1959)
Comments 1, the Threshold, Paris, (1961)
Comments 2, the Threshold, Paris (1967)
the bottom of the air is red: Scenes of the third world war, 1967-1977, coll " Voix" , ED. Franois Maspéro, Paris, (1978)
the dépays, ED. Hersher, Paris (1982)

News

Till the end off time, Spirit, October 1947
Phenomenon (n.m.), Traffic n°30, be 1999
New of Doppelwelt, Positive n°500, October 2002

Outstanding articles

See too

Scenario writers of our Documentary time
documentary Test
List of documentarists by continent

External bonds

Chris Marker - Compilation of texts and quotations of Chris Marker on Net 4 image.
Chris Marker - Card carried out by François Niney on Chris Marker with in bond the study of " Without soleil" and of " The Sixth face of Pentagone".
Without sun - Study of " Without soleil" by Dominique Coujard and Christine Juppe Leblond on the Quay of the images.
critical of Five Level by Telerama
Level 5 - Study of " Level 5" by Bernard Aspe and Muriel Combes.
Cats perched - Bond towards the critic of film on Film of worship.

Sources of the article

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