Another discovery courtesy of my film history class, Chris Marker’s short film about a man who travels back in time in order to save a post-apocalyptic Paris is a haunting and ultimately tragic treatise on time and memory. (The less I say about the storyline, the better. This is something you truly want to watch sans spoilers.)

La Jétee is made all the more effective due to its unique nature, consisting almost entirely of still photos that are accompanied by Jean Négroni’s stately narration. The film’s experimental nature sets it apart from your typical sci-fi fare, but make no mistake, La Jétee is one of the great sci-fi films.

Terry Gilliam remade the film in 1995 as 12 Monkeys, and though it was a critical and commercial success, I never cared for it. At the risk of sounding pretentious, Marker’s film had such a singular and profound effect on me that I can’t really stand the thought of it being remade.