Are there any other films which are constructed in a "Photomontage with narration" style similarly to La Jetée?
La Jetée is a short, French sci-fi film of about 30 minutes. The whole film is just one long sequence of beautiful black and white photographs, except for a single short sequence where the photographs come faster and faster until they become an actual moving image, giving great emphasis to this particular moment in the film and making it very powerful and meaningful.
As the photos are displayed there is a narrator delivering the story, and sometimes there are a music track and ambient sound effects in the background.
Are there any other films which have been filmed in this style, and does this style of film-making have a technical name? Is this a genuine genre of film-making or does La Jetée stand out as a singular incident? I would call the style "Photomontage with narration" but I doubt that is the correct terminology.
Best Answer
The Glass Fortress, also a French s-f short film, is made in a very similar style:
There is also a 2013 remake of La Jetée made by Matt Lambert:
Then there is Año Uña by Jonás Cuarón (son of Alfonso):
Año Uña is a wonderful film. Stylistically influenced by Chris Marker’s La Jetée, Jonás Cuarón’s debut film is a postmodern merging of fiction and truth. Snapping pictures of his family and girlfriend at home in Mexico and New York for a year, he then collated the shots before reassembling them into a totally new narrative.
In addition to the above, Wikipedia lists a number of homages and parodies of La Jetée. It isn't specified whether they are stylistically similar, but I think there is a high chance that at least some of them are:
The 2003 short film, La puppé, is both an homage to and a parody of La Jetée. The video for Sigue Sigue Sputnik's 1989 single "Dancerama" is also an homage to La Jetée. The film is one of the influences in the video for David Bowie's "Jump They Say" (1993). Kode9 in collaboration with Ms. Haptic, Marcel Weber (aka MFO), and Lucy Benson created an homage to La Jetée in 2011, for the Unsound Festival. The plot centers around the woman instead of the man and is a "reimagining", in that it features a completely new, original script that further develops the narrative whilst remaining true to the original plot. The images and music of "Her Ghost" are almost exclusively sourced from the original film, however they are significantly reworked so as to create an original piece.
Lastly, there is also Sans Soleil from La Jetée director Chris Marker. While being stylistically similar to La Jetée, it's generally classified as a documentary:
Expanding the documentary genre, this experimental essay-film is a composition of thoughts, images and scenes, mainly from Japan and Guinea-Bissau, "two extreme poles of survival". Some other scenes were filmed in Cape Verde, Iceland, Paris, and San Francisco. A female narrator reads from letters supposedly sent to her by the (fictitious) cameraman Sandor Krasna.
See also this article that deals with still images cinematography. Note that in comments people mention a lot of shorts using this technique, so you may want to review them, e.g. The Forgotten Love seems to match your criteria nicely.
Pictures about "Are there any other films which are constructed in a "Photomontage with narration" style similarly to La Jetée?"
Is La Jetee utopian or dystopian?
La Jet\xe9e is set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia created in the wake of World War III that ended in the destruction of Paris. \u201cThe Man,\u201d our protagonist, is one of the survivors who has found himself living in a camp beneath the Palais de Chaillot galleries.Is La Jetee an experimental film?
Chris Marker's La Jet\xe9e (1962) is considered one of the greatest experimental films of all time. This short film, a compelling science-fiction story composed almost entirely of black-and-white photographs, has been praised by cultural theorists, artists and film-goers alike.What genre is La Jetee?
RomanceDramaScience fictionShortIs La Jetee art?
La Jet\xe9e (1962), a film directed by Chris Marker, reminds us of the art form's basic building block: the still photograph. La Jet\xe9e is a French science fiction film that sets still photographs to narration. The photomontage takes place in post-apocalyptic Paris after a third World War.Creators Assemble: How to make a Photomontage | Get Creative
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Answer 2
There are some student films that are influenced by La Jetée. Here are some examples:
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