Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Sans Soleil

Play trailer Poster for Sans Soleil 1982 1h 40m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
88% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
This experimental film by acclaimed French director Chris Marker collects footage recorded in various countries around the world and presents it in collage-like form. The movie features no synchronized sound, but instead ties the various segments together with music and voice-over narration, which ponders the topics such as memory, technology and society. As the scenes shift, locations range from Japan to Iceland to Africa, creating a truly international work.
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

Sans Soleil

Critics Reviews

View More
Adam Kempenaar Filmspotting 05/19/2023
4/5
"Sans Soleil" is part history lesson, part home movie travelogue, and a wholly thrilling, anxiety-inducing chronicle of human disconnection. Go to Full Review
Jonathan Curiel San Francisco Chronicle 11/21/2003
3/4
Unforgettable movie. Go to Full Review
Josh Larsen LarsenOnFilm 05/13/2023
3/4
There is a density to Sans Soleil that’s intimidating. Go to Full Review
Henry Sheehan Los Angeles Reader 08/12/2022
Marker the intellectual, the theorist of montage, and the leftist are all evident in Sans Soleil, whose intellectual breadth seems ostentatious at first but eventually coheres. Go to Full Review
James Berardinelli ReelViews 03/15/2021
2/4
Belongs in the love-it-or-hate-it category of pretentious twaddle. Go to Full Review
Mattie Lucas From the Front Row 08/06/2019
3.5/4
Filters its ruminations through the prism of memory, both hazily distant and fiercely modern. Go to Full Review
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
Leaburn O Feb 4 A time portal to the early 80s and the culture in various countries, particularly Japan. Damn Tim’s were simpler then. Enjoyed viewing for anyone with a passing interest in anthropology. Watched on DVD. See more Henry W @HenryWarwick 06/06/2023 One of the greatest films ever made. Required Viewing. See more Lequisha S 05/03/2022 There's a reason this is the paragon of essay films. Interesting that Marker chose to take up an anonymous role in his own film is crucial because it allows him to highlight the content of his musings and not the man behind them. It allows his thoughts to stand on their own merit. Him visiting the Vertigo locations in San Francisco was a treat. Beyond it just being interesting to see what things did end up getting altered since that movie's filming, the way that he connected the spirals of Hitchcock's films to the theme of time in his own was a satisfying moment. Quite a thought-provoking, compelling film he's offered. See more 12/17/2021 Etrange, parfois intéressant, parfois simple collage sans queue ni tête. Souvent l'impression de coq à l'âne, souvent l'impression d'un journal intime. Aucune direction précise. Curiosité. See more s r @ScottR 10/05/2021 1001 movies to see before you die. This was a fascinating poetic film, on the experimental side. I really enjoyed the Japanese culture takes that I had not encountered and it made me want to visit there all the more. It was on youtube. See more William L 03/31/2020 Some seem to think this is a documentary. It uses nonfiction footage, sure, but it is entirely metaphysical musings rather than a chronology of some tangible event or phenomenon beyond the general principle of memory. Yes, it draws interesting conclusions on memory and incorporates interesting examples across shockingly disparate cultures, but it is not terribly cohesive. I'm sure many critics will pat themselves on the back after viewing this film, claiming some sort of incredible divine insight, but this is largely just an arthouse narration of interesting and candid home video footage, that allows audience members to draw whatever conclusions they would like from the subject matter. (2.5/5) See more Read all reviews
Sans Soleil

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All

Movie Info

Synopsis This experimental film by acclaimed French director Chris Marker collects footage recorded in various countries around the world and presents it in collage-like form. The movie features no synchronized sound, but instead ties the various segments together with music and voice-over narration, which ponders the topics such as memory, technology and society. As the scenes shift, locations range from Japan to Iceland to Africa, creating a truly international work.
Director
Chris Marker
Production Co
Argos Films
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
Canadian French
Release Date (DVD)
Feb 7, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA)
$30.9K
Runtime
1h 40m
Most Popular at Home Now