This is a thorough and discerning review of Chris Marker's sui generis career, done in eerie and (for Marker fans) thrilling imitation of Marker's own style. Highs like La Jetée, lows like Sunday in Beijing, and efforts beyond easy assessment like the CD-ROM Immemory and a Second Life island each receive patient and persuasive treatment. This essay about cinema's greatest essayist, using Marker's preferred second-person voice, is gratifyingly well-informed about the "petite planète" of Marker's century as well as current conditions in the places that captivated him for so long: Korea, Japan, France, and more. Brief clips from Marker's career - minimal spoilers, inasmuch as spoilers exist for creative non-fiction - punctuate strong sequences of new footage, remarkably well-chosen and edited.
A digression into contemporary Armenian politics is interesting on its own terms, but it fails to get below the surface of that locale or make new connections in the web of humanity as Marker would have attempted. After that, as if searching for a missing piece, the doc turns inward, pulling back the curtain on its process and its gaps. Although this line of inquiry risks straying too far from Marker, the search itself takes on amusingly Markeresque dimensions with the introduction of a game called "Guillaume Caching" and various knocks on the doors of Level 5. If you know you know, and if you don't, this way to learn what you need to learn is well worthwhile.
A digression into contemporary Armenian politics is interesting on its own terms, but it fails to get below the surface of that locale or make new connections in the web of humanity as Marker would have attempted. After that, as if searching for a missing piece, the doc turns inward, pulling back the curtain on its process and its gaps. Although this line of inquiry risks straying too far from Marker, the search itself takes on amusingly Markeresque dimensions with the introduction of a game called "Guillaume Caching" and various knocks on the doors of Level 5. If you know you know, and if you don't, this way to learn what you need to learn is well worthwhile.