A Grin Without a Cat

Although this is a very informative overview on communism, it can be a little dry during debate sequences or long ideological speeches.

"A masterpiece among masterpieces, the two-part, three-hour A Grin Without a Cat is Chris Marker's most ambitious, clear-headed string of cinematic clauses and ideological couplets, and also his most impenetrable." - Eric Henderson

To see Marker channel his unique mind into portraying unrest in the era of counterculture brings me to a new level of awe. Appropriating footage of protests and speeches from across the world, the result is palpably affecting. To edit these scenes together alone is a tall task, but to simultaneously augment them with color filters and electronic sounds in a meaningful way just goes to show how true an artist Marker was. This is the 20th century in all its triumph, ugliness, sadness, and passion.

I'm sympathetic with Marker's politics, but even so this can be a bit much. I have to admit either way it still undeniably feels like one of Marker's Important Statements, and at three hours it actually goes by pretty quickly, more or less. There are hints of the director's poetic capabilities, but Sans Soleil this is definitely not (but then, really, what is?) although it possibly feels more like a precursor to Adam Curtis' work than any other Marker film.

The landmark of an amazing career. Political filmmaking at it's purest and most naked; montage, not commentary.

Chris Marker #1

Film essay interweaving the search for a particulary type of cat graffiti appearing all over Paris with social protests occurring in the early 2000s. It felt a bit too meandering in a stream-of-consciousness sort of way, similar to Sans Soleil (a film I never really got).

(...) Sein Werk steckt voller Anspielungen, ist ungeheuer eindringend und sehr bewegend (was ich gar nicht erwartet hätte!). Nicht zuletzt ist A Grin Without A Cat filmisch ungeheuer reich! Das Leben, wie der Verstand es wahrnimmt, klingt hier nach als Echo auf das Leben ausserhalb. (Dazu gibts unsere Film List Nouvelle Vague Rive Gauche auf cinegeek.de

Marker's trademark style is here, but it was hard to follow at times due to lack of knowledge about the era it is about. Though he does make his argument, even if you are uninformed, clear.

The strange electronic music seems to portend the true horror about to occur: technocracy. See, also: French citizens blaming outside forces for the student protests, a reminder that the inability of the middle class and the privileged to reconcile mass frustration and anger with their own apathy is nothing new.

Em honra dos 50 anos do maio de 68. Cinensaio espetacular de Marker que maneja um panorama das esquerdas ao redor do mundo de 1967 à 1977 e tudo que foi feito para serem dizimadas. Trabalho de grande inteligência, maturidade e coesão. DVD Versátil Maio de 68 no Cinema.