Sans soleil (1983)
"He wrote me...." A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, and San Francisco (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Chris Marker
Written By: Chris Marker
Starring: Arielle Dombasle, Alexandra Stewart, Florence Delay, Riyoko Ikeda, Charlotte Kerr
Genres: Drama, Documentary, Crime
Country: France
Where to Stream
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Sans soleil belongs to 67 collections
1. 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (collaborative: moderated by kozan26 - 232 stars)
2. Criterion Collection (collaborative: moderated by caffe - 165 stars)
3. Certified weird (collaborative: moderated by Dreamer - 46 stars)
4. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2008 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Scottathon - 39 stars)
5. Jonathan Rosenbaum's Top 1000 Movies (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 38 stars)
6. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2010 revision) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 32 stars)
7. The Guardian's 1000 films to see before you die (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 30 stars)
8. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2014 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Jehan - 27 stars)
9. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2012 revision) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 25 stars)
10. Criticker: Neglected Gems (collaborative: moderated by theficionado - 24 stars)
11. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2017 revision) (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 22 stars)
12. Best of criticker: Documentary (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 20 stars)
13. The Story of Film: An Odyssey (collaborative: moderated by rant1229 - 20 stars)
14. They Shoot Pictures' Recommended Viewing (collaborative: moderated by Cinephile - 19 stars)
15. Humanity and the Natural World (collaborative: moderated by paulofilmo - 18 stars)
16. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2013 revision) (collaborative: moderated by rant1229 - 16 stars)
17. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2011 revision) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 14 stars)
18. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 13 stars)
19. Sight and Sound 2012 (collaborative: moderated by DavidB - 13 stars)
20. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2020 revision) (public: djross - 13 stars)
21. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 11 stars)
22. Criticker top 250 (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 11 stars)
23. The Village Voice: 150 Groundbreaking Films (public: kevinjoseph - 9 stars)
24. Djross cinematic essays (public: djross - 7 stars)
25. Best by different standards (public: sesito71 - 6 stars)
26. Sight & Sound Greatest Documentaries of all Time (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 5 stars)
27. Meditative (collaborative: moderated by Dorkovsky - 4 stars)
28. They Shoot Pictures 1,000 Greatest Films (2007 revision) (collaborative: moderated by Scottathon - 4 stars)
29. Artistic documentaries (collaborative: moderated by Dorkovsky - 4 stars)
30. Harvard University's Suggested Film Viewing List: Non-Fiction Films (collaborative: moderated by dardan - 4 stars)
31. Average Percentile >70 (collaborative: moderated by peyrin - 4 stars)
32. The 100 Greatest Films of All Time according to BFI's Sight and Sound (2022 edition) (collaborative: moderated by Dr.N0 - 4 stars)
33. edkrak films to see (public: edkrak - 4 stars)
34. BFI 100 key Documentary films (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 3 stars)
35. The 100 Greatest Films of All Time according to BFI's Sight and Sound (2022 edition, directors) (collaborative: moderated by djross - 3 stars)
36. Criterion Collection (Blu-ray and 4K) (public: PepeCamello - 3 stars)
37. Vaporwave aesthetics (collaborative: moderated by Ghalea - 2 stars)
38. Animal killing (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 1 star)
39. Top 100 movies according to Greek filmmakers (collaborative: moderated by hristos - 1 star)
40. Time Out New York's Alt-Canon (collaborative - 1 star)
41. Time Out's 50 Best Documentaries of All Time (collaborative: moderated by theficionado - 1 star)
42. Sight and Sound 2002 (Single Vote) (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 1 star)
43. Tom & Bitches' Infinite Watchlist (collaborative - 1 star)
44. French director (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 1 star)
45. movies of the year - Brian (public: JooJoo - 1 star)
46. Lesinrocks - top 100 french movies (public: Thegoodboy - 1 star)
47. Psychogeography and Dérive (public: Ag0stoMesmer - 1 star)
48. Antagony & Ecstacy: The Best Films of All Time (public: Nroo - 1 star)
49. TOP 100 of the past 100 years (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr)
50. They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?: TOP 100 (collaborative: moderated by CCLZA)
51. My DVDs/Blu-rays, for better or worse (public: Actionberg)
52. Favorites of Each Year (public: Actionberg)
53. To see (public: pcalado)
54. cinema (public: edsu)
55. 1983: Year in Review (public: polanski28)
56. Zevahir (Kasım '12) (public: parcaliham)
57. Filmspotting Ratings Project: Week 21 (public: PeaceAnarchy)
58. 2re/watch (public: LuckyLuciano)
59. Urban Cinematics (book) (public: Ag0stoMesmer)
60. My Criterions (public: Matthew Parkinson)
61. Mr. Hallenbeck's Blu-Ray Collection (public: MrHallenbeck)
62. Tom's Movies (public: tomwalsh)
63. Sight and Sound 2012 - Combined list - Part II (public: Ariaz)
64. test12 (public: horazalra)
65. m-canon (public: horazalra)
66. La Fémis 208 films (public: chengming)
67. C-Documentary (public: cantahta)
Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 8 |  |
MartinTeller | 65 26th |
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What starts out as fascinating gradually becomes drop-dead boring. Some of the bits about Japan were very interesting, but everything collapses under the weight of the voice-over. I hate to use the word "pretentious", so I will try to put it a different way... Marker is trying too hard to be "poetic". Every line seems like its trying to convey incredibly deep ideas, but few of them were thought-provoking. By the last half hour, I was really struggling to stay focused on it.
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| 5 |  |
djross | 45 34th |
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I have never been able to locate the beauty and significance that others clearly find here. I find much of the use of video effects unappealing, and at times it comes across as almost touristic, by which I mean that it seems we are being invited to attend to surface features of "exotic" cultures, without, so far as I am capable of discerning, any genuine attempt to reflect on or draw anything from the things we are being shown.
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| 5 |  |
Icarus | 60 27th |
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This was a real disappointment, though the near universal love for it from voices I respect gives me pause. That said, the reality is this film was a struggle to get through. It constantly seemed like the film was making attempts at profundity, but never really reaching it. At other times, it seemed like the film was delving into the extremes of certain cultures just for the sake of being extreme. I'm sure I'll give it another go in a few years, but the first experience just wasn't that great.
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| 4 |  |
PeaceAnarchy | 72 32nd |
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It's certainly very interesting filmmaking, but I'm not sure it makes for a very good film. There are a lot of good individual parts but it gets tiresome to watch and I'm not sure I get what point the film is trying to make.. The narration is very fast and has a familiar tone that doesn't work too well. The end result is that while it's not hard to understand what's being said there's never enough time to connect the pieces or think about what's being presented.
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| 2 |  |
eveelun | 77 66th |
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At times fascinating, at times tedious, I found this hard to watch all the way through, but in small chunks I found it rewarding. The film aims at coherency by its many callbacks to earlier scenes and ideas, but ultimately its meandering style has more charm in smaller doses.
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| 2 |  |
JakeAesthete | 98 98th |
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One of the most heartbreaking and poignant films i have ever seen.
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| 2 |  |
Neonman | 72 43rd |
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The most interesting vacation video I've ever seen.
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| 2 |  |
somnivore | 95 95th |
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"there's also the fascination associated with the sacred, even when it's someone else's." A very poetic, meditative travelogue that puts us not in the shoes of the participants, but in an interesting, detached observer's perspective, inviting exploration of the meaning of human ritual and the nature of memory and observation itself. It is a good example of how traveling should be conducted. Also, as this film makes heavy reference to the films Vertigo and Stalker, those should be seen first.
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| 2 |  |
oskarhu | 84 90th |
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Very compelling on LSD but have to see this again to have a second, less inspired outlook.
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| 2 |  |
Yiannos | 50 26th |
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As far as non-narrative films that are on some level about the clash between modernity and the pre-industrial world, this was less satisfying than Koyaanisqatsi on the whole, and aesthetically it wasn't nearly as evocative or illustrative of the various environments it attempted to capture, natural or otherwise.
The reflections on time and memory seemed superficial, and the narration was almost solipsistic in its self-regarding indulgence. The stubborn insularity was extremely off-putting.
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| 2 |  |
anilscn | 50 44th |
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Repetetive, poetic, pretentious as hell but atmosphere and some ideas were beautiful.
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| 1 |  |
roujin | 60 55th |
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Pretty complex and daunting. I have no idea how much of it was absorbed but it was still pretty rewarding.
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| 1 |  |
Jeb | 91 82nd |
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Poignant, bizarrre and fascinating, San Soleil is a very rewarding film. Although be warned, it takes a lot of time for you to fully absorb and except it.
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| 1 |  |
andagh | 100 97th |
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Oh my God, where has this been my whole life? Just gorgeous, it's almost unfair to rate it on the same site as other movies.
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| 1 |  |
Thoughtgraff | 100 97th |
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Not much to say about this film essay. This film is achingly beautiful. It's a film where, like was said by Herzog, "you can believe your eyes". Mesmerizing.
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| 1 |  |
Bown | 75 37th |
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A very tentative “good!” score because this demands a rewatch very badly. There are a LOT of ideas and images being thrown at you and plenty of them are very meaningful and thoughtful and others are like ok what if your friend who got really into Japan was also an amazing videographer?? so another watch will help sort it all out in me noggin
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| 1 |  |
lisa- | 4 52nd |
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it seems to be about the fragmented and fleeting nature of thoughts and memories, evidenced by how no particular moment in the film is a necessary component, and by how the thoughts expressed are at different times insightful, silly, cynical, humourous, optimistic, boring, etc. but the constant stream of consciousness becomes tiresome, one-note and even irritating over the course of 100 minutes. perhaps there's something meta in that ultimately the narrator's musings are largely forgettable.
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| 1 |  |
IeuanDP | 70 58th |
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I thought I'd love this, but found it a bit dull and passive. It doesn't really do enough to explore the intrigues of memory or dreams visually, and the intonations feel more like an essay than fleeting thoughts. Some bits feel irritating and contrived too, especially the Hitchcock homage (not a Hitchcock fan). The most affecting moments revolve around other people's manipulation of film, but otherwise it's too distant for something so apparently personal.
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| 1 |  |
le mami | 60 52nd |
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çok zor izlemek
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| 1 |  |
JonnyHalftab | 91 93rd |
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If I could pick one film to be the creator of it would be this. For the rest of my life I could just sit in an empty room, elated, bathing in my self importance
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| 1 |  |
JPFerguson | 55 40th |
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While the muffled and distorted auditory landscape infused with electronica is pleasantly unsettling, there is an element of voyeurism in this film that does not seem quite right. The impression it gives of Japan is powerful - one feels Japan - but the other portions of the film lack this impressionist quality. The repetition of "He wrote me..." is both tiresome and pretentious.
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| Average Percentile 73.58% from 943 Ratings |  |