100. One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (1977), Agnes Varda
99. Fail Safe (1964), Franklin Schaffner
98. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), John Ford
97.Germany Year Zero, 1947, Rossellini
96. A Grin Without a Cat (1977), France, Chris Marker
Chris Marker directed A Grin Without a Cat, a provocative essay film (or film essay), focusing on the political turmoil in the 1960s and 1970s in various parts of the globe.
Inspired by the the image of “the Cheshire Cat” in Lewis Carroll’s work, the film’s title evokes the disappointing dissonance between the promise of global socialist revolution (the grin), in the late 196os, and its actual nonexistence, less than a decade later.
Play on Words: French Vs. English
The film’s French title is “Le fond de l’air est rouge,” which translates into “The essence of the air is red,” but it also implies that the socialist movement existed only in the air.
The French expression is “Le fond de l’air est frais,” meaning “there is a chill/a nip in the air.” Marker replaced the last word, “frais” (fresh), with “rouge” (red), so that the original title translates to “there is Red (communism-socialism) in the Air.”
The film contains interviews with French communist leaders, activist students, and academic sociologists.
It includes the rise of the New Left in France and the development of socialist movements in Latin America.
The Prague Spring of 1968: There’s footage of Fidel Castro’s speech, explaining his support for the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia while questioning the action’s legality.
Other sections deal with the Vietnam War, guerrilla wars in Bolivia, rise of Salvador Allende in Argentina, Minamata poisoning in Japan, and the 1972 Watergate Scandal.
In addition to references to cats, there are brief shots of raccoons.
The film was originally released in France on November 23, 1977, with a running time of 240 minutes, subtitled “Scènes de la Troisième Guerre mondiale (1967-1977),” (“Scenes from the Third World War (1967-1977).”
In 1993, the essay film was re-edited by Marker, who scaled it down to two parts of 90 minutes each, the first titled “Fragile Hands,” and the second “Severed Hands.”
Though it was shown in festivals and other events, film did not premiere theatrically in the U.S. until 2002!
Marker begins by evoking Eisenstein’s agit-prop Battleship Potemkin, a silent film that’s become a must-see in schools, due to its theory of revolutionary montage.
However, Marker’s goal is different than Eisenstein’s call for action. His aim is to probe and contextualize various political movements against the socio-economic forces of the 196s and 1970s, the most crucial decade of the twentieth century.
Thus, it is no surprise that the film reaches its emotional peak with the hopeful New Left demonstrations that swept Europe in 1967, and the tide turning in the various strikes of May 1968.
Though a Marxist, Marker, like Godard, is not a committed ideologist–he is a sophisticated thinker-filmmaker who’s more impressionistic than analytical.
Marker’s essay also implies that every generation reconstructs the past in its own ways–both righteous, in trying to stick to the facts and morals, and faulty, in its willful distortions of history.
Political Movies: 100 Most Significant. No. 96: “A Grin Without a Cat” (1977), France, Chris Marker
100 Most Significant Films
100. One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (1977), Agnes Varda
99. Fail Safe (1964), Franklin Schaffner
98. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), John Ford
97.Germany Year Zero, 1947, Rossellini
96. A Grin Without a Cat (1977), France, Chris Marker
Chris Marker directed A Grin Without a Cat, a provocative essay film (or film essay), focusing on the political turmoil in the 1960s and 1970s in various parts of the globe.
Inspired by the the image of “the Cheshire Cat” in Lewis Carroll’s work, the film’s title evokes the disappointing dissonance between the promise of global socialist revolution (the grin), in the late 196os, and its actual nonexistence, less than a decade later.
Play on Words: French Vs. English
The film’s French title is “Le fond de l’air est rouge,” which translates into “The essence of the air is red,” but it also implies that the socialist movement existed only in the air.
The French expression is “Le fond de l’air est frais,” meaning “there is a chill/a nip in the air.” Marker replaced the last word, “frais” (fresh), with “rouge” (red), so that the original title translates to “there is Red (communism-socialism) in the Air.”
The film contains interviews with French communist leaders, activist students, and academic sociologists.
It includes the rise of the New Left in France and the development of socialist movements in Latin America.
The Prague Spring of 1968: There’s footage of Fidel Castro’s speech, explaining his support for the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia while questioning the action’s legality.
Other sections deal with the Vietnam War, guerrilla wars in Bolivia, rise of Salvador Allende in Argentina, Minamata poisoning in Japan, and the 1972 Watergate Scandal.
In addition to references to cats, there are brief shots of raccoons.
The film was originally released in France on November 23, 1977, with a running time of 240 minutes, subtitled “Scènes de la Troisième Guerre mondiale (1967-1977),” (“Scenes from the Third World War (1967-1977).”
In 1993, the essay film was re-edited by Marker, who scaled it down to two parts of 90 minutes each, the first titled “Fragile Hands,” and the second “Severed Hands.”
Though it was shown in festivals and other events, film did not premiere theatrically in the U.S. until 2002!
Marker begins by evoking Eisenstein’s agit-prop Battleship Potemkin, a silent film that’s become a must-see in schools, due to its theory of revolutionary montage.
However, Marker’s goal is different than Eisenstein’s call for action. His aim is to probe and contextualize various political movements against the socio-economic forces of the 196s and 1970s, the most crucial decade of the twentieth century.
Thus, it is no surprise that the film reaches its emotional peak with the hopeful New Left demonstrations that swept Europe in 1967, and the tide turning in the various strikes of May 1968.
Though a Marxist, Marker, like Godard, is not a committed ideologist–he is a sophisticated thinker-filmmaker who’s more impressionistic than analytical.
Marker’s essay also implies that every generation reconstructs the past in its own ways–both righteous, in trying to stick to the facts and morals, and faulty, in its willful distortions of history.