La Jetée (1962)

In the grim aftermath of World War III, Paris is a city reborn beneath the surface, its inhabitants divided into the victors who command and the prisoners who submit. As nuclear devastation blights the earth above, mankind's hope lies with scientists exploring the enigma of time travel, aiming to glean wisdom from both the past and future to heal their ravaged present. Their experiments, however, exact a harrowing physical and emotional toll, and thus they turn to the captive population as unwilling guinea pigs. One prisoner stands out, his mind tethered to a potent memory from his childhood at Orly Airport, before the world was shattered by war. The memory of a mysterious woman on an outdoor viewing platform, a poignant beacon in his past, despite the subconscious knowledge of a man's death at the same time. The scientists, believing this emotional anchor would aid him in withstanding the trauma of temporal displacement, select him for their trials. As he oscillates between his dystopian present and the elusive past at the airport, he begins to cultivate a relationship with the woman of his memory. Time travel, however, is not without its trials and tribulations. Can a bond formed across the time rift endure? Or do the scientists harbour a more ambitious plan tied to this potent remembrance? In this haunting tale of time, memory, and survival, a man enslaved to his temporal destiny grapples with life, death, and the pivotal events etched on an airport jetty. His mission: to uncover a solution to the world's despair, to restore dwindling resources of food, medicine, and energy. Yet, in this desperate pursuit, he is ensnared in a perpetual cycle of remembering a singular woman, her existence becoming an echo that resonates through the corridors of time.

La Jetée is a romance movie featuring Davos Hanich.

La Jetée is currently streaming on Criterion Channel and DocAlliance Films.

It is also possible to buy La Jetée on Amazon Video, Apple TV and DocAlliance Films.