Letter from Siberia

Marker films are delightful to watch. "Lettre de Sibérie" is one of his early works, so it is very interesting to compare this one with his later (and more popular) films. This film also flows beautifully by itself. The scene where the same footage on Siberia is shown three times repeatedly with a different narrative each time (pro-Soviet, anti-Soviet and neutral) is a must-see.

Each moment of sound and image is an opportunity to play with ideas in a way only cinema can allow. The satire does not inhibit its childlike tone; in fact, it excels because of it. Joyous and inspired.

Marker achieves to send me a letter which can be poetic and touching and which creates analogies between distinct ages, peoples and cultures despite the first impression and prejudices about Siberia as a dull and boring place. The repetition scenes of the road workers were significant to see his ambition about the semantics of cinema.

A lot of gorgeous scenery is done grave injustice by the intellectual and always self-aware narration. I think the film itself puts it best: "Perhaps our irony was more naive than their enthusiasm." You could probably carve that on my gravestone.