This one is worth seeing by anyone interested in still photography, time travel stories, or good cinema in general. But because I am a big fan of 12 Monkeys' brilliance I was a little disappointed in this original story.

WARRING! SPOILERS ENCLOSED FROM HERE ON:

My biggest problem with La Jetee is that it is not great science fiction, it is an intellectual cop out and could be better labeled as `fantasy.' In La Jetee a man from the near future is chosen to go back into the past to get items necessary for human survival after a nuclear war. He is selected because of his strong memories and obsessive dreams about the past. The scientists are able to amplify these dreams in a way that allows him to enter the past. It is far fetched, but those are the rule it sets up and I as the viewer was willing to accept them. The plot problem comes in when they decide to send him into the far future. How is this possible? He has no memories of the future for the scientists to latch onto. The film breaks its own scientific reasoning, which breaks my suspension of disbelieve, and tells me that the writer got sloppy. Worse, the idea of going into the far future, because if they are there they must have found a way to survive, therefore they can save us so they can be born, is so much illogical nonsense as to be childish. This is a clear sign of writer's block. La Jetee got its hero into a situation that it did not know how to get out of, so it decides to call on the hand of God (the far future people) to solve the problem. Whenever you introduce previously unknown and all-powerful characters late in the story it is an obvious script failure. This offers no opportunity for your character to grow, to sink or swim on their own, and leaves the audience feeling gypped. Hamlet should regain his father's kingdom or bring down everyone around him in his maddening quest – you don' t have the Virgin Mary suddenly appear, give him back his sanity, and put him on the throne. It's just not good writing. 12 Monkeys corrects La Jetee's error by never going into the far future, while also added more details that pull everything together in a more intelligent manor. In La Jetee the main character's actions has nothing to do with the nuclear war, but the main character's actions in 12 Monkeys are an integral part of the virus that almost wipes out the human race. This is a far superior plot.

I fear that what most `high-minded' people are judging La Jetee on is the fact that it is French. Just as many Americans would never see a foreign film, other Americans would never dare believe that Hollywood could ever do anything right. You can see the obvious slant one way or the other in so many reviews of 12 Monkeys, La Jetee, and other films. But the fatal flaw of La Jetee can not be wiped clean just because it is big in `artistic' circles. It was a wonderful idea that was later improved upon.

This is one of the most stunning short films ever made. Marker has pieced together an oblique, sci-fi setting for marvelous still photography; when there is movement, it is a cause for joy! Everyone who is a cineast should see this film: it's that good and it's that important!