17.10.

13 13:48 Letter to Theresa by Chris Marker Behind the Veils of Sans Soleil Notes from the Era of Imperfect Memory
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Chrls Markr
Nots rom th Lra o |mprct Mmory
Letter to Theresa by Chris Marker Behind the Veils of Letter to Theresa by Chris Marker Behind the Veils of
Sans Soleil Sans Soleil
!"#"$% '( ) *+,-. /010230
4-5#50,6. 7,8
Lar 1hrsa (and all th gang},
Lon`t apologlz. prhaps on thousand popl wlshd to ask m ths qustlons, but | nvr gav thm a chanc to ask.
|n act, th only opportunlty whr | was ln a posltlon to talk about Sans Solll (| not that, ln splt o m puttlng ln th llm
ltsl th thr tltls o th Mussorgsky songs cycl, ln Russlan !"# $%&'(), ln Lngllsh SNLLSS and ln rnch, popl ln
S always prrrd to us th latst so ln turn on qustlon rom m. how com ? dos lt sound that xotlc ?} was at th
San |ranclsco |stlval, atr th scrnlng, but | managd to brush asld too dlrct qustlons. Nothlng nasty, just th
dllbrat lntntlon to lav th llm ln a mlst, ln ordr that vlwrs lt thlr lmaglnary orcs work" as th Chorus says ln
Hnry V. Now prhaps lt`s about tlm to brlng som clus, and anyway all thls wlll rmaln btwn us, won`t lt?
1h. only qustlon | conss blng unabl to cop wlth ls your last. Why? " | | knw (l w knw} why thlngs ar don, thls
world wd look qult dlrnt. |`ll just try to dal wlth th How ?" And or that, th bst ls prhaps to glv you an account o
vnts, startlng wlth th llm`s rlas. |lrst, th txt | dlstrlbutd to th prss and prosslonals .
THE STORY THE STORY
An unknown woman rads and commnts upon th lttrs sh rclvs rom a rlnd a r-lanc camraman who
travls around th world and ls partlcularly attachd to thos two xtrm pols o survlval , Japan and Arlca
(rprsntd hr by two o lts poorst and most orgottn countrls, vn though thy playd a hlstorlcal rol . Gulna
Blssau and th Cap- Vrd |slands}. 1h camraman wondrs (as camramn do, at last thos you s ln movls} about
th manlng o thls rprsntatlon o th world o whlch h ls th lnstrumnt, and about th rol o th mmory h hlps
crat, A Japans pal o hls, who clarly has som bats ln th blry (japans bats, ln th orm o 'lctrons} glvs hls
answr by attacklng th lmags o mmory, by braklng thm up on th synthslzr. A llmmakr grabs hold o thls
sltuatlon and maks a llm o lt, but rathr than prsnt th charactrs and show thlr rlatlonshlps, ral or supposd, h
prrs to put orward th lmnts o th dosslr ln th ashlon o a muslcal composltlon, wlth rcurrnt thms,
countrpolnts and mlrror-llk ugus. th lttrs, th commnts, th lmags gathrd, th lmags cratd, togthr wlth
som lmags borrowd, |n thls way, out o ths juxtaposd mmorls ls born a lctlonal mmory, and ln th sam way as
17.10.13 13:48 Letter to Theresa by Chris Marker Behind the Veils of Sans Soleil Notes from the Era of Imperfect Memory
Seite 2 von 6 http://www.chrismarker.org/notes-to-theresa-on-sans-soleil-by-chris-marker/
Lucy puts up a slgn to lndlcat that th Loctor ls ln , w`d llk to prac thls llm wlth a placard. |lctlon ls out"
somwhr.
1hn ollowd dtalld blographls o th protagonlsts -Sandor Krasna, camraman, born ln Kolozsvar, Hungary, ln J932,
dolng hls lrst short llm (Lrdlyl 1ancok} at th Budapst |llm School, llng Hungary ln J956 or Vlnna lrst, thn Parls
and SA, and lnally sttllng ln Japan. Mlchl Krasna, hls youngr brothr (Budapst, J946}, studylng muslc at th Kodaly
schools, jolnlng Sandor ln Callornla but lnally chooslng Parls to compos llm muslc Hayao Yamanko, th vldo-artlst
(born Nagoya, J948}, art actlvlst durlng th Slxtls, larnlng llm and lctronlcs at th Nlhon 1algaku ln 1okyo, artlst ln
rsldnc ln Brkly atr hls short Boku no shl wo klmta noha darka? -and Chrls Markr, amatur llmmakr. |t was ln
Brkly -at P|A, to b prcls- that Krasna, Yamanko and Markr mt" (sald th blurb} and rom thn on th Sans Solll
projct orlglnatd."
So th scn was st to crat. conuslon, and ractlons wr lntrstlngly chaotlc. | knw som popl wouldn`t pay
attntlon . thy s a movl, thy don`t car about who dld what. Othrs, mor amlllar wlth my works, would ldntly my
styl ln th lttrs and assum | had don th prlnclpal photography (you glrls shouldn`t ask l | shot all o th ootag" .
th lnal crdlts ar qult clar or attrlbutlng at last what | dldn`t shoot.}. But | was almlng at th cntr o th targt .
popl unamlllar nough not to tak or grantd that | was th unlqu author, and yt clvr and curlous nough to rals
qustlons about lttrs and shootlng. You provd you blong to that catgory. So | guss lt`s only alr to glv you a honst
answr . ys, all our charactrs", vn th ourth, amount to b just on, namly your humbl srvant. But you shouldn`t
thlnk all that was just a gam, or a srls o prlvat joks. | had good rasons -or so | thought- to dvls that crookd st-
up. Hr thy ar .
|or Mlchl Krasna th muslclan", a slmpl cas o good mannrs. | hat slng on nam mor than onc on th crdlts
(you know a plctur by Jonathan Rumbl.lsh, atr an lda by Jonathan Rumbllsh, scnarlo and dlalog by Jonathan
Rumbllsh, dltd by Jonathan Rumbllsh, tc", | s lt as xtrmly pdstrlan. So vn l | rquntly do my own
muslc, | would hav lt prpostrous to slgn lt along my dlrctor`s crdlts. So | lnvntd Mlchl, and | stabllshd a
parntal llnk wlth Sandor ln ordr to glv mor lsh to th paralll" story.
Hayao Yamanko was mor manlngul. | was vry consclous o th llmltatlons that plagud th lrst lmag synthslzrs,
and lnsrtlng ths lmags ln th dltlng, llk that, could crat som mlsundrstandlng, as l | boastd thls ls modrnlty"
whn thos wr th lrst stumbllng stps on th long road that would lad to th computrlzd and vlrtual world. | just
wantd to strss th polnt that such lmags wr posslbl, and would chang our prcptlon o th vlsual -ln whlch |
wasn`t totally wrong. So | thought o a lctlonal charactr, Hayao Yamanko, tchnahollc and tratd wlth som lrony, to
dllvr th mssag. wlthout solmnlty. Naturally agaln thos who knw somthlng about Japan and mysl, as
yamanko" mans wlldcat", could hav suspctd somthlng, r. lshy, but most popl dldn`t. | vn had som small
gratllcatlons about both my charactrs, whn olks congratulatd m or uslng Mlchl Krasna`s muslc -somon thy had
spottd slnc long- and som othrs rmmbrlng clarly havlng sn Hayao`s works ln Japan. Such ancdots mak my
wk.
As or Sandor Krasna, | suppos you caught th lda, whlch was to us som dgr o lctlon to add a layr o potry to
th actuallty" o th so-calld documntary. |rom th start | had always rusd th omnlsclnt, anonymous volc" o
th classlcal travlogu, and | had bluntly usd th lrst-prson. |or that | was somtlms rproachd, accusd o
prtnslon. | slncrly thlnk that`s wrong. | you allow m to quot mysl, thls ls how | put lt (ln Lvl |lv`s prssbook} ln
an lntrvlw wlth Lolors Wallsch or th Brkly Lantrn (th what ? Com on, now | guss you`r amlllar wlth my
antasls} | us what | hav got. Contrarlly to what popl say, th us o th lrst prson ln llms tnds to b a slgn o
humlllty. all | hav to or ls mysl". Also | lovd th orm o th lttr", or th rdom and lxlblllty lt allows. Lttr
rom Slbrla was a ral lttr, addrssd to a ral prson. But | dldn`t wlsh to lock mysl ln such a systm, and | cam to
consldr that a lctlonal charactr could brlng a mor lntrstlng dlmnslon. 1hn th lda o havlng anothr volc, that o
th addrss, stabllshlng a nw dlstanc. 1h audlnc would b r to lmagln whatvr thy wantd btwn thos
two, ln a mor cratlv way than l | had told thlr story mysl. And unnlly th ral startr was grammatlcal, whn |
rallzd that | would rathr us th past tns lnstad o th prsnt. H wrlts m. H wrlts m." dldn`t glv m th
rhythm | longd or. Whn | phrasd or th lrst tlm H wrot m." th last obstacl ll, and th. txt cam luntly,
lavlng m th luxury to turn back to th prsnt tns at th.vry last paragraph o th llm, thus stabllshlng a nw
rontlr ln tlm, and th posslblllty or th vlwr (or rathr thn or th llstnr} to ldntly dlrntly wlth th Volc, ltsl
rom thn on provldd wlth a utur . Wlll thr b a last lttr?" (Wlth Lvl |lv, | wnt on. stp urthr, by stabllshlng
th physlcal prsnc o on o th corrspondnts, th woman, but thls tlm sh`s th on who wrlts" -and mysl as
th xtrlor wltnss. |`m not sur that | was ully undrstood.}
| don`t know l thls answrs rally your qustlons, but at last you hav an lda o th procss. On a mor mattr-o-act
lvl, | could tll you that th llm lntndd to b, and ls nothlng mor than a hom movl. | rally thlnk that my maln talnt
has bn to lnd popl to pay or my hom movls. Wr | born rlch, | guss | would hav mad mor or lss th sam
17.10.13 13:48 Letter to Theresa by Chris Marker Behind the Veils of Sans Soleil Notes from the Era of Imperfect Memory
Seite 3 von 6 http://www.chrismarker.org/notes-to-theresa-on-sans-soleil-by-chris-marker/
llms, at last th travlllng klnd, but nobody would hav hard o thm xcpt my rlnds and vlsltors. Camra was a llttl
J6mm Baullu wlth J00 t rls, sllnt (whlch mans nolsy} -th sound was mad sparatly on on o th lrst small
casstt rcordrs (not yt th Walkman}, thr lsn`t on synch tak ln Sans Solll. | was naturally alon rom bglnnlng to
nd, but wlth som xcptlons that`s my usual way to work. | couldn`t lnd th words to xplaln. " to an dltor, or
lnstanc, opratlons that com lnstlnctlvly to my mlnd whn |`m at th dltlng tabl. 1h J6mm dltlng was transrrd on
35mll or thatr rlas. 1h shootlng xtndd rom J978 to J98J, ollowlng haphazardly my altrnat trlps to Japan and
Blssau (whr | hlpd to bulld a clnma/vldo tralnlng cntr whos rsults wr uttrly dstroyd thls yar by th clvll
war thr, but that`s anothr story.} and | couldn`t tll at what momnt ths blts and plcs startd to shap up lnto a ral
movl, that also blongs to th mystrls o xlstnc.
Oh, and dld th llm chang m ? Wll, prhaps you rmmbr th momnt whn | mntlon th Yar o th Log. | was just
slxty thn, whlch mans that th dlrnt comblnatlons btwn th twlv anlmals o th yar and th our lmnts
hav bn xhaustd, and you`r ln or a brand nw ll. | dldn`t rallz that whn | bgan, but at that momnt |
undrstood that th whol llm was a klnd o xorclsm or slxty yars on thls dublous plant, and a way to tak lav o
thm. You could call that a chang.
Chrls Markr c/o KMS 5 ru Courat 75020 PARlS |ax (33J} 4009 9525 mall addrss rdactd - d]
9:,01$ %2 ;<512 4<2-5 =2- $+0>50# %:5$ 320>+-="6 >2?"<+0%@ 9:2"#: 5% A"66$ B,?1 %:+ ?"-%,50 20 $2<+ 2= %:+ <C$%+-5+$ 2=
!"#$ !&'()'D E =+6% 5% "6%5<,%+6C %22 ?2<A+6650# ,0> ?2"6> 02% -+=-,50 =-2< -+A-2>"?50# 5% :+-+D =2- 3:5?: E %,1+ %:+ B6,<+@ )
B650> 65B-,-5,0
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17.10.13 13:48 Letter to Theresa by Chris Marker Behind the Veils of Sans Soleil Notes from the Era of Imperfect Memory
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1h Vlw Byond Parallax. mor rads or wk o Octobr 4 | Parallax Vlw on K6,0L%+ M,-1+- Comlng to
Cntr Pompldou
$*)&+", on K6,0L%+ M,-1+- Comlng to Cntr Pompldou
cathrln wlllls on K6,0L%+ M,-1+- Comlng to Cntr Pompldou
japans orms on K6,0L%+ M,-1+- Comlng to Cntr Pompldou
bllndllbrarlan on M|1 Llst Vlsual Arts Cntr Prsnts N:-5$ M,-1+-. O"566,"<+P+0PQ#CA%+
Gould on M|1 Llst Vlsual Arts Cntr Prsnts N:-5$ M,-1+-. O"566,"<+P+0PQ#CA%+
$*)&+", on M|1 Llst Vlsual Arts Cntr Prsnts N:-5$ M,-1+-. O"566,"<+P+0PQ#CA%+
camara rlgorllca madrld on M|1 Llst Vlsual Arts Cntr Prsnts N:-5$ M,-1+-. O"566,"<+P+0PQ#CA%+
$*)&+", on Chrls Markr`s Glts to Patrlclo Guzman
bllndllbrarlan on Gorgomancy. Langrous Vlwlng
Marker Tweets Marker Tweets
J.
Sontag&l. n bau txt d ,PototCabngo. S| J'AVA|S 4 LROMALA|RLS 0J/JJ J7h & 08/J2 20h
#savthdats http.//t.co/|o4LrtMC3"
about 34 sconds ago
2.
Mathlu Glrard. Rplongz vous dans La jt, puls sl l'ouvr d Chrls Markr vous sdult toujours autant
,AR1Lcratlv . http.//t.co/WbdGc5Hyb
about J6 mlnuts ago
3.
LNBAN|. You1ub, la sall d clnma d Chrls Markr http.//t.co/knYuY54oWM
about 23 mlnuts ago
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Rlna Shrman. Montags t dmontags du rgard, Chrls. Markr documntarlst (J/3}
http.//t.co/P|bVMAq6A
about 50 mlnuts ago
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lna prlvltra. Chrls Markr | M|1 Llst Vlsual Arts Cntr http.//t.co/9JY4s8LqH
about J hour ago
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Poptronlcs. Agns d Cayux racont "You1ub, la sall d clnma d Chrls #Markr" sur AR1L Cratlv
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17.10.13 13:48 Letter to Theresa by Chris Marker Behind the Veils of Sans Soleil Notes from the Era of Imperfect Memory
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Nw York 1lms 07/3J/J2 .. Chrls Markr, Plonr o th Lssay |llm, Lls at 9J, Lnnls Llm
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