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Chris Marker

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Filmmaker

The Resume

    (July 29, 1921-July 29, 2012)
    Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
    Birth name was Christian Francois Bouche-Villeneuve
    Film director, photographer and author
    Film critic for 'Espirit' and 'Cahiers du Cinema'
    Wrote the novel 'The Forthright Spirit' (1950)
    Directed the films 'Olympia 52' (1952), 'Statues Also Die' (1953), 'Letters from Siberia' (1957), 'La Jetee' (1962), 'The Koumiko Mystery' (1965), 'Far from Vietnam' (1967), 'See You Later, I Hope' (1968), 'The Train Rolls On' (1971), 'A Grin Without A Cat' (1977), 'Sans Soleil' (1983), 'A.K.' (1985), 'Tokyo Days' (1988), 'Berlin 1990' (1990), 'The Last Bolshevik' (1992), 'Level Five' (1997), 'One Day in the Life of Andrei Arsenevich' (2000) and 'Leila Attacks' (2006)

Why he might be annoying:

    His pseudonym was inspired by Magic Marker pens.
    He directed the pro-Fidel Castro propaganda film 'Cuba Si!' (1961)
    He was elusive about his past.
    He claimed to have been born in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
    He refused most interview requests.
    He responded to requests for photographs by sending pictures of his cat.
    When he agreed to an interview for Agnes Varda's documentary 'The Beaches of Agnes' (2008), he was represented by a drawing of a cat and his voice was electronically modified.
    Asked about his secretiveness, he replied, 'My films are enough for them [the audience].'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He studied philosophy with Jean-Paul Sartre in the 1930s.
    He fought with the French Resistance during World War II.
    His 'Statues Also Die' won the prestigious Prix Jean Vigo before being banned by the French government for criticizing the country's colonial policies.
    In 'Letters from Siberia,' he commented on 'objectivity' in film documentaries by playing the same footage three times with different commentaries: one praising the Soviet Union, one denouncing it, and one neutral.
    His post-apocalyptic time travel film 'La Jetee' inspired Terry Gilliam's '12 Monkeys.'
    When a bar in Tokyo's Golden Gai district was named for 'La Jetee,' he said it was 'worth more to me than any number of Oscars.'
    Film historian David Thomson wrote that 'La Jetee' could be 'the one essential movie ever made.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 62 Votes: 77.42% Annoying