Chris Marker (1921-2012)

[Alan Smithee]

This shrine was built to Chris Marker in front of Light Industry last night:
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[Black Hat]

What a wonderful evening at Light Industry! Pleasantly surprised at the fantastic turnout, not a seat to be had and no room left for standing in the back. The youth, diversity and about equal if not leaning female, male/female ratio was also rather surprising but, great to see.

Some thoughts on the films, Letter From Siberia was Marker as always translating a place of mystery and unknowns into humor related by keen insights into people not so unlike ourselves. Martha Rosler introduced the film and spoke about why Marker disowned the film but, it was hard for me to hear in the back. Swore she said something about Hungary, huh???? Can anybody shed any light on this as I'm pretty sure I misheard her. First time I had seen Last Bolshevik, maybe it's me but, I think in a 120 minutes Marker managed to encapsulate the essence of the Soviet Union in ways volumes of 1000 page books or other much longer documentaries can never dream of doing. And that ending is as perfect an ending as I've ever seen.

[Adam]

That's pretty nice that they got Martha Rosler to speak as well.

[magicmarker]

Just to follow up. I have ordered Description of a Struggle on DVD from the Jerusalem Cinematheque. I had to email their video department directly and do the credit card transaction via email (reluctantly). I'll report back when it arrives. Thanks again Adam for the info.

[Adam]

Excellent! Please let us know if it arrives safely and what the film is like.

[magicmarker]

I received Description of a Struggle from The Jerusalem Cinematheque a few days ago (pretty speedy delivery to Canada, I think). No problems with the credit card transaction etc., and at $25 (Canadian) a pretty nice deal.

The image quality is, as expected, not great. It looks like a decent 16mm print transferred to Beta or VHS and then to DVD (or so I figure). It is a bit washed out and there is lots of visible print damage, though none of it too serious. But it is viewable and not so terrible that anything is lost or obscured. Indeed, it is better than many of the bootleg Marker films out there on ebay or youtube (Le Joli Mai, the Koumiko Mystery, etc.). There are simultaneous English and French subtitles (one over the other), which are pretty good, though at times there are parts of the v/o that are untranslated, as are the credits. This is a bit frustrating, but infrequent. I'll have a Hebrew-speaking friend look it over to see what is missing someday.

I've only watched it once, so I won't comment too much on the film itself, except to say that it is much like Marker's other essay films of this period (Letter from Siberia, Koumiko Mystery, Cuba Si etc.). There is the sly Markerian humour, the careful use of editing alongside the commentary, and some very fascinating footage of life on the streets and in the kibbutz.

I am very happy to finally get to see this film, and would say to others who are interested that it is worth ordering.

Thanks again, Adam.

[MichaelB]

I've just had a press release from the Whitechapel Gallery in London with the following info-nugget:

Chris Marker

16 April – 22 June 2014, Galleries 1, 8 & Victor Petitgas Gallery (Gallery 9)

Visionary French filmmaker, photographer, writer and artist Chris Marker (1921 – 2012) is widely acknowledged as the finest exponent of the ‘essay film’. He is best known as the director of over 50 films including Sans soleil (Sunless, 1983), A Grin Without a Cat (1977) and for his most influential work La Jetée (The Pier, 1962), imagining a Paris devastated by nuclear catastrophe and composed almost entirely of black-and-white still photographs, which later informed the narrative of Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys (1995). He was a prescient multi-media maker, exploring the future through both digital art and via his numerous online avatars. This important exhibition – his first UK retrospective – looks at Marker’s prolific career and considers his influence on contemporary British art and artists.

Organised in collaboration with Chris Darke and the Centre Pompidou. Free

[dadaistnun]

Le Cinema Club's free film of the week is a restoration of Koumiko Mystery.

[dadaistnun]

Le Cinema Club's free film of the week is a restoration of Koumiko Mystery.

This looks outstanding, by the way, especially compared to the version on YouTube. Wonderful film. Watch it while you can.

[dadaistnun]

Previously unseen video diary shot in Moscow in 1990 streaming on La Cinémathèque française‘s website. (No English subs, btw.)

[thirtyframesasecond]

Just randomly listening to music on Youtube, I discovered that Marker directed the music video for 'Getting Away With It', by the supergroup Electronic (Bernard Sumner, Neil Tennant, Johnny Marr).

[beamish14]

Just randomly listening to music on Youtube, I discovered that Marker directed the music video for 'Getting Away With It', by the supergroup Electronic (Bernard Sumner, Neil Tennant, Johnny Marr).

Between their respective groups, they worked with Marker, Derek Jarman, and Jonathan Demme. Not too bad.

[zedz]

Just randomly listening to music on Youtube, I discovered that Marker directed the music video for 'Getting Away With It', by the supergroup Electronic (Bernard Sumner, Neil Tennant, Johnny Marr).

Between their respective groups, they worked with Marker, Derek Jarman, and Jonathan Demme. Not too bad.

Plus Katherine Bigelow, William Wegman, Robert Breer, Robert Longo & Robert Frank!

[thirtyframesasecond]

Zbigniew Rybczyński directed the Opportunities video for PSB too. Bruce Weber directed three excellent videos for them (Being Boring/Se A Vide E/I Get Along. Plus, they worked with the photographers Wolfgang Tillmans and Martin Parr. And the Watson/Greenhalgh videos have several highlights.