Note: In an attempt to recognize great short films (since they can't win the 50th Anniversary Award at this point in time), I decided to institute a special rule whereby the highest-polling short film (meaning under 40 minutes) would be inducted alongside the top-ranked features, provided it cracked the top 25 overall. Here was this year's selection.
"La Jetée visualizes the original looper, an unnamed tragic emissary of time moving through forgotten memories to help save the world. What he discovers is potential life reborn and certain death, frozen images 'oozing like confessionals' representing versions of the past, present, and future intertwined by fate. His visual scars produce the opportunity for hope, but in rebelling against trauma one simply creates more of the same. The subconscious state teases individuality and freedom, even if there are personal moments of joy to be found within the deception."
"Visually, Chris Marker's film is an astoundingly frank depiction of how trauma defines itself by imagery, and how it can transcend the laws of science and logic. Each image carries a specific weight and resonance, and when one begins moving it's something akin to a revolution. In the end, La Jetée is one of the great cinematic tragedies in that it captures all the world's cries and whispers through one man's ultimate sacrifice."
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