Page "Chris Marker" Paragraph 25

Sans Soleil stretches the limits of what could be called a documentary.

It is an essay, a montage, mixing pieces of documentary with fiction and philosophical comments, creating an atmosphere of dream and science fiction.

The main themes are Japan, Africa, memory and travel.

A sequence in the middle of the film takes place in San Francisco, and heavily references Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo.

Marker has said that Vertigo is the only film " capable of portraying impossible memory, insane memory.

" The film's commentary are credited to the fictitious cameraman Sandor Krasna, and read in the form of letters by an unnamed woman.

Though centered around Japan, the film was also shot in such other countries as Guinea Bissau, Ireland and Iceland.

Sans Soleil was shown at the 1983 Berlin Film Festival where it won the OCIC Award.

It was also awarded the Sutherland Trophy at the 1983 British Film Institute Awards.