This is an art film that consists of lots of photographs strung together along with narration to tell the story of a future dystopia where people are prisoners to some unknown foreign power and are forced to live underground following WWIII due to radiation poisoning. One of the many prisoners of this new regime is the subject of a time travel experiment and in the end he realizes that indeed, life really does suck (as does starring in this turgid little film).

Because of how it was made, this film is quite the darling of intelligent and "with it" people--hence the high IMDb rating and very enthusiastic reviews on IMDb. So this leaves me wondering if I am really sane! To me, the film was dreadfully dull, cheap and not very compelling. While not the worst film I have seen (because mercifully it was short),it certainly wasn't a pleasant viewing experience nor did it make me think--just feel thankful it was finished.

By the way, if you LIKE this film, try watching UN CHIEN ANDALOU or ALPHAVILLE--two more artsy films that normal people hate or simply avoid.

This is a haunting 28 minutes. The world has just been through World War III and nuclear weapons have doomed everyone. This takes place in Paris and the city is rubble. Winners and losers (actually all losers) are living underground. The scientists are using the others as Guinea pigs to try to figure out a way to travel back in time and correct the mistakes. One young man is a prime choice to do the job. As his memory is probed he goes back to a moment on a pier (La Jetee) where he tried to see a woman with whom he had fallen in love. He creates a narrative in his mind. What it does is create a kind of loop that will probably prove unproductive. It's probably like the people that will be left after it is too late at some future time, especially if they were complicit in the destruction, desperately trying to come up with a last straw to grasp. What we have, however, is one more shot of cruelty toward the people already victimized. I hope I'm wrong, but I kind of see the whole climate thing and the ozone layer being our World War III. That aside, this picture shows us some of the beauty that was there before the arrogance of some would eventuate our demise and with it the love and kindness that is really what the human condition should be about. I haven't even mentioned how incredibly creative this film is, using black and white still photographs to tell the story. Images of joy and pain and resilience.

A man in Paris survives the nuclear holocaust of WWIII. The survivors are driven to live in the underground galleries. The man is held as a prisoner and forced in a dangerous experiment in time travel. His obsessive vision of a woman is needed. He saw her as a child on the observation platform at Orly Airport before the war and there was a shocking incident which he is uncertain about. He goes back into the past and has a relationship with the woman. He is then sent into the future where the future people agree to save his world. He returns to his world where his jailers are looking to execute him. With the future people's help, he returns to his childhood moment at the airport where the incident finally becomes clear.

This is a rather poetic sci-fi short. The black & white and still images deliver something unique. With the narration, it feels like watching an immersive picture book. It's definitely not for everyone but I find it entrancing. It doesn't drag and the short running time keeps the movie close to the point.