Sans soleil (1983)

Director:

Chris Marker

Writer:

Chris Marker (writer)

Release Date:

2 March 1983 (France)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

"He wrote me...." A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory...

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Time | Memory | Cat | Dream

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Florence Delay	...	Narrator (French version) (voice)
Arielle Dombasle	...	Herself
Riyoko Ikeda	...	Narrator (Japanese version) (voice)
Charlotte Kerr	...	Narrator (German version) (voice)
Kim Novak	...	Herself / Madeleine Elster / Judy Burton (archive footage)
Alexandra Stewart	...	Narrator (English version) (voice)
James Stewart	...	Himself / John 'Scottie' Ferguson (archive footage)

Directed by
Chris Marker		(as Chris. Marker)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Chris Marker		writer (as Chris. Marker)

Original Music by
Michel Krasna

Cinematography by
Chris Marker

Film Editing by
Chris Marker		(as Chris. Marker)

Camera and Electrical Department
Arthur Cloquet	....	assistant camera
Ghislain Cloquet	....	assistant camera
Eric Dumage	....	assistant camera
Dominique Gentil	....	assistant camera
Jimmy Glasberg	....	assistant camera
Kazuko Kawakita	....	assistant camera
Pierre Lhomme	....	assistant camera
Tom Luddy	....	assistant camera

Thanks
Eugenio Bentivoglio	....	acknowledgment: archive footage (segment: Guerrilla in Bissau)
Jean-Michel Humeau	....	acknowledgment: archive footage (segment: Graduation Ceremony)
Mario Marret	....	acknowledgment: archive footage (segment: Guerrilla in Bissau)
Sana Na N'Hada	....	acknowledgment: archive footage (segment: Bissau Carnival)
Haroun Tazieff	....	acknowledgment: archive footage (segment: Iceland 1970)
Danièle Tessier	....	acknowledgment: archive footage (segment: Death of a Giraffe)

Production Companies

• Argos Films

Distributors

• Aurora (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• New Yorker Films (1983) (USA) (dubbed)
• Ripley's Home Video (2007) (Italy) (DVD) (boxed set)

Also Known As:

Bez solntsa Sunless Sans soleil (complete title)
Sunless
Without Sun (International: English title)
Sans Soleil - Unsichtbare Sonne (West Germany) [de]
Sem Sol (Brazil) [pt]
Vailla aurinkoa (Finland) (TV title) [fi]

Runtime:

USA:100 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | Japanese | English

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Brazil:18 | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Cape Verde

Company:

Argos Films

Quotes:

Narrator: Rumour has it that every third-world a leader coined the same phrase the morning after independence. "Now the real problems start." Cabral never got a chance to say it: he was assassinated first. But the problems started, and went on, and are still going on. Rather unexciting problems for revolutionary romanticism: to work, to produce, to distribute, to overcome postwar exhaustion, temptations of power and privilege. Ah well...

Movie Connections:

References La jetée (1962)

This is not a documentary

To call this film a documentary is to cheapen it. It's life on screen, not a mere document. It's poetry... and I'm not sure that word is adequate. How about your view of how you live and the world around you? Have you ever seen a film that gave you the questions to ask yourself? This film is startling... I can't praise it enough. My mind was exhausted by considering the layered imagery, both audio and visual, and the contextual shifts between them. How does anyone pick up a camera after seeing this? You might as well toss it in the trash because Marker has made Earth's last film.

It's a crime that this film is not available on VHS or DVD in the U.S. Fans of this film should also seek out "The Koumiko Mystery", another transcendant film by Chris Marker.