SCFZ poll: Chris Marker

[flip]

Polling the films of director Chris Marker

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Marker films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of his films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of his films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Tuesday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline up to three days, if someone requests an extension

- next poll: whoever posts the first ballot in this thread is free to nominate the director we poll next, unless you've nominated in this round already (everyone should get a chance). Already nominated this round: umbugbene, greennui, evelyn, bure, m arkadin, mrcarmady, nrh, brian d, mesnalty, kanafani, st gloede, ofrene, silga, greg x, therouxxx, charulata, oscarwerner, wba

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

one rule for nominees: at least 3 scfzers need to have seen 10+ of a nominee's films, or at least 4 scfzers need to have seen at least 8 of the nom's films, so if it isn't clear if that will be the case, we'll confirm that's true before moving forward

if 24 hours pass after a poll opens, and no one eligible to nominate has posted a ballot, then i'll nominate someone, and then we'll start over, and everyone will be able to nominate again

[flip]

i think for now, we'll try this poll using the normal rules, but if there's a lot of short ballots, i'll switch it up

[flip]

Les Astronautes
Level Five
Junkopia
Cat Listening to Music

edit: seen eight

[brian d]

seen 15

zoo piece
if i had four dromedaries
level five
cat listening to music
la jetée

[St. Gloede]

Seen 13:

Si j'avais quatre dromadaires / If I Had Four Dromedaries
Le joli mai
Le tombeau d'Alexandre / The Last Bolshevik
Lettre de Sibérie / Letter from Siberia
Sans soleil

---in case of rule change---

La solitude du chanteur de fond / The Loneliness of the Long Distance Singer
Description d'un combat / Third Side of the Coin

[greennui]

23.

Cat Listening to Music
2084
Zoo Piece
One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich
A. K.

[greennui]

My mood atm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYMydXTR16A

[Monsieur Arkadin]

Seen 3. I'll try to get to more before this ends. But my top pick is:

Le Joli Mai

[thoxans]

seen just cat listening to music, which i... don't get? it's a cat. listening to music. ok. cool?

[brian d]

haha, the way karl feels about straub/huillet is typically the way i feel about marker, outside of maybe a couple of these. but i gave that one three stars way back in the day so i guess it was alright

[kanafani]

Seen 20

La Jetee
Sans Soleil
The Last Bolshevik
A Grin Without a Cat
The Case of the Grinning Cat

[Holymanm]

Sans Soleil

Seen 2

[---]

Seen 4

La jetee
the last Bolshevik

[mesnalty]

I've seen 17, but I'll hold off a bit before voting in case I watch Level Five for the 97 poll.

[MrCarmady]

Seen 5 but based on those I gotta use this opportunity to watch more.

Sans Soleil
La jetée

---

Si j'avais quatre dromadaires / If I Had Four Dromedaries

[wba]

Hmmm, seems like I've only seen 9 films by Marker? Or letterboxd hasn't all listed?

Anyway...

01. Sans soleil (1982)
02. La Jetee (1962)
03. The Last Bolshevik (1993)
04. A Grin Without A Cat (1977)

[john ryan]

seen 19

1. sans soleil
2. la jetee
3. a grin without a cat
4. three cheers for the whale
5. the lovely month of may

[nrh]

a grin without a cat
le joli mai
level five
the last bolshevik
2048

has anyone seen his long tv series on greek cultural legacy? i'd always wanted to see that and somehow didn't realize it was recently restored

[oscarwerner]

Seen 11.
Sans Soleil(1983)
La Jetee (1962)
A Grin Without A Cat (1977)
The Last Bolshevik (1993)
The Lovely Month of May (1963)

[Holdrüholoheuho]

i watched a few of his films in the past but any of them recently (my Marker memory is rather blurred) so i will not vote.
however, i would like to watch DÉTOUR CEAUSESCU (1990) – i can't find the film anywhere???
i still remember very clearly watching on Czech TV in December 1989 footage of Ceausescu being shot.
at that time, the local commie (softcore Stalinist) regime was losing power but it was still not completely clear if they will be gone or will manage to stay in power somehow (making some concessions).
but after watching Ceausescu's savage execution in local primetime TV news, suddenly i knew with confidence local oligarch commie nobility will be gone too in a short time (being too shit scared by news from Romania).
the fact many of them were able to adapt very smoothly to the upcoming neoliberal capitalism is another story.
however, i clearly remember the savage bloodthirsty caveman strata of my neural system got fully saturated by the footage from Romania.
when i shared this memory with a person coming from Romania and expected to reach the mutual understanding, i was instead rebuked for holding a savage notion and heard the more civilized opinion Ceausescu should have faced trial and go to jail (the sign of a normal civilized country).
somehow or other, i still consider footage of Ceausescu's savage execution displayed in primetime news in December 1989 (in a still formally communist Czechoslovak state) as a formative experience.
thus i would like to watch DÉTOUR CEAUSESCU because i am curious about what impact the film would have on me (considering the time gap from December 1989 and Marker's context).
#GamingTheEndgame

[ralch]

Seen 12

1. Sans soleil
2. La jetée
3. A Grin without a Cat
4. Statues Also Die
5. Remembrance of Things to Come

[Holymanm]

Is it mon* turn? Can we do George Roy Hill? Sceptical that we might have enough, but some of you folks have seen every old Hollywood movie ever made, after all... (10+ for me)

* (Chris Marker often titles his titles in French because he's pretentious, so I'm Making a Marker joke)

[thoxans]

if it is un's turn, i've seen just three grh's, though i can add one to that. and i'd happily throw a vote funny farm's way cuz i assume no one else would

[MrCarmady]

I've got just the two GRHs but I hit 8 Bongs the other day (and also watched some movies ayyy) so we could do him if you still want

[Holdrüholoheuho]

* (Chris Marker often titles his titles in French because he's pretentious, so I'm Making a Marker joke)

in "Beloved Sisters" (by Dominik Graf) German nobility switches to speaking French to avoid being understood (while speaking about private matters) by their servants who might pass this over as a gossip from high society to a wider peasant audience. (was there yellow press in Germany around 1800? — something yet to figure out!)

[Holymanm]

but I hit 8 Bongs

Yeah also an option! If GRH doesn't work I'll put together a couple other candidates, including him

* (Chris Marker often titles his titles in French because he's pretentious, so I'm Making a Marker joke)

in "Beloved Sisters" (by Dominik Graf) German nobility switches to speaking French to avoid being understood (while speaking about private matters) by their servants who might pass this over as a gossip from high society to a wider peasant audience. (was there yellow press in Germany around 1800? — something yet to figure out!)

While my grandparents would speak German so my mom, who was an infant at the time, wouldn't understand. But then she started to understand German, so they stopped, and then she forgot German. Kids!

But yes, I keep learning more and more French from 19th-century Russian books - it would be great to just learn the language, if I didn't... hate it (c.f. the best video ever posted on scfz)

[Holymanm]

and i'd happily throw a vote funny farm's way cuz i assume no one else would

i wouldn't, just because i love his other flicks so much, but that is an underrated one! (< x-mas tree is suitable for the movie too)

[flip]

seen four by roy hill

[St. Gloede]

Seen 6 by GRH

Bong has only made 7 films, so perhaps we should wait a 5-10 years.

[mesnalty]

Seen 18:

1. La Jetee
2. If I Had Four Dromedaries
3. A Grin Without a Cat
4. Sans Soleil
5. Level Five