La Jetée
"Nothing distinguishes memories from ordinary moments, only later do they make themselves known, from their scars."
La Jetée, French Post Apocalyptic film, is a totally raw, realistic, melancholic and controversial social commentary striking the harmful effects of endless war. It's a raw but very realistic depictions of the most humane emotions, twisted and blurred with the perspective of time, future, past, and the sorrowful tragedy of war cloaking thoroughly.
The setting revolves on a completely devastated city; Paris, because of the effects over humanity of WWIII that'll bring you the feeling that living there is a total desperate and suffer, dying slowly.
The concept is totally awesome and authentic, raw and melancholic; the script is very deep and intense, the direction is perfect and so stylish, and the photographs are just immersive.
A totally paralyzed character as a lonely survivor looking for time travel in order to find / to cope with an empty existentialist state of his past, distorted and blurred with the desired fate and the impacts of war. It is really immersive; really brings you down to his isolated, desperate psychology, just as the still photographs and images about a universe that was once and is about to be in another future give you a perspective about a totally frozen and weak Paris, and an empty soul of the main character's emotional and mental state as well.
There's something within' the minimalism in La Jetée that makes it in a higher spot of my favorite movies, even at #1 for now. Not only do we get such a complex and great tale of love and grief through the glance of photographs, but in many ways it shows this genre could be something that just extraordinary and next level craft. Also with a film relying on photography, every shot and every frame is stunning and with the great editing, at times you do feel like you are actually watching a moving picture, you really are 'in' and 'live' in the universe of the photographs.
Something about the narrative that lingers on my head, giving me chilling goosebumps; a state of subsconscious peace, and also a melancholic feeling. La Jetée is definitely an important piece of audiovisual art. Combining immersive photographs, chilling score, and poetic narration.
This movie reminds me of Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, and it also convinces me that Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (This one might be a hot take, ik) is terribly bad, overrated, and a flop replication of this timeless masterpiece 🤣🤣🤣.