I knew his work principally through the film La Jetée, which for a short film (it runs under 30 minutes) packs a startling amount of ideas into its plot.
Made in 1962, and filmed in black and white and almost entirely with still images, it was - appropriately enough for a film about time travel - decades ahead of its time, inspiring the 1995 film 12 Monkeys, which lifted much of the plot for La Jetée.
I actually came across le Jettée as a consequence of seeing 12 Monkeys and being so impressed by it. 12 Monkeys was essentially a remake, with a budget of just under £30m and Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt starring in it. While a striking film itself, it lacked the poetic and haunting qualities of the original.
The original reminded me a lot of Alphaville, a film I was more familiar with, in its low budget but high ideas approach.
The film, in the subsequent 50 years since it came out has inspired other film makers and writers, The Terminator could be seen to be one of the other films that based itself on the premises of La Jetée.
Musically there have been many who used the visual style of the film in their videos, but I thought a link to an actual song tht was influenced by the film was appropriate.
The Panda Bear track comes from the 2011 Tomboy album. Panda Bear is the name used by Animal Collective's Noah Lennox for his solo projects .
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