A film I really wanted to like, given the acclaim and the positive opinion of so many people I respect, but one that fell short for me. The concept was unique and I wish I could say it was praiseworthy, but it too often felt voyeuristic and culturally condescending, and that was a real turn-off. The narration didn't add anything, and at times got so banal and pseudo-intellectual that I felt like I might enjoy the film more with the volume off. "Perhaps they read only in the street, or perhaps they just pretend to read-these yellow men," Marker (through his narrator) says. About video games, there's this: "Perhaps because he (Pac-Man) is the most perfect graphic metaphor of man's fate." Good grief. It was like being trapped in a room with someone showing a really long home movie and droning on as the footage veered randomly from place to place. I would have loved to hear the voices of and viewpoints of the people he filmed, or something that gave me real insight into their cultures. Also, I have no idea why Marker felt a need to show the gruesome (and extended) killing of a giraffe, but he did.
Review of Sans Soleil
