Level Five

Decidedly Chris Marker is not one my favourite film directors. His movies are formally attractive in terms of images and words but they have lttle to do with reality. They are too philosopical and poetical to be true. This time a computer programmer woman is trying to make a computer game based on the battle of Okinawa in 1944. Her efforts of reaching the real events and their consequences by investigating data on internet lead her to a permanent meditation and discourse about the battle facts in paralell with events of her life and her feelings. It is attractive in terms of film form but not much in terms of contents that is rather irrealist.

For the documentary genre, this film might be an interesting attempt. In this one, narrative is not a faceless, lifeless voice but a woman who shares details about her thoughts and feelings, along with the information about the main subject of the movie. Despite its originality in handling the narrative, the film doesn't offer too much.

Basically, it's a well-done documentary loosely attached to a storyline about a woman who longs for the person she loved. The former part is an outstanding documentary about Okinawa and World War II, and it deserves 5 alone. However, the latter is filled with some mysterious yet lame "cyberspace" themes and mostly unrelated rantings of a woman, and it deserves a zero.

If the movie was able to connect these two parts in a more meaningful way, I would definitely consider it a masterpiece. However, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was watching two completely unrelated movies that cobbled together in the last minute.

In a way it's ironic to comment on this film through this medium as one of its themes seems to be the ephemerality of electronic communication. I say "seems" because this is an often wilfully obscure film in the tradition of Marker's oeuvre. It ostensibly concerns a woman seeking information about the WWII massacre at Okinawa through a futuristic antecursor of the Internet, but who only finds repetitive images and foggy recollections. It seems to be a meditation on the replacement of ideas by images, and possibly a comment on we still ignore tragedy in our world even this information-saturated age. Though intensely cerebral, it's directed stylishly and has moments of genuine poignance, and references to classic French cinema which film buffs will enjoy spotting

If you like your Sci-fi shiny and new then Level 5 will dissapoint - It's computer graphics are executed with a charming clunkiness that affords the story a sturdy grounding in reality.

Many will find the film 'hard going', but it's rare that you will find a film with a sub-plot as potent as the one here, and it's an informative and enriching experience.

Marker has, yet again, made a stunningly intimate and challenging film.