Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*14 Sep 2025

La Jetée: French New Wave's 1962 Sci-Fi Classic

As always there are spoilers ahead!

A quick note that I shall be at the London Film Festival on October the 16th giving a whistlestop tour of sci-fi cinema. It is a free event but you have to reserve tickets so if you happen to be in London and wanted to attend here is the information.

Translation for the beginning of the podcast:

"Later, he knew he had seen a man die.

And sometime after came the destruction of Paris."

You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky.

If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 a month you can get ad free version of the show. https://www.patreon.com/everyscififilm

La Jetée is very different from the science fiction films I have covered so far. A 28-minute art film mostly made of still images that went on to inspire many films as well as the 1995 12 Monkeys. The filmmaker, Chris Marker was an elusive French multimedia journalist, artist, writer, filmmaker, photographer who very rarely did interviews. He was part of the Left Bank group in Paris which was part of the larger French New Wave movement.

My amazing science fiction authorities today are Lisa Yaszek who is Regents' Professor of Science Fiction Studies at Georgia Tech and has written/edited multiple books on science fiction and Mark Bould who is a professor of Film and Literature at the University of West England, Bristol. He has also written/edited numerous books on science fiction.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

02:15 The French New Wave

08:50 The New Wave of science fiction literature

13:00 The New Wave science fiction films

17:53 Vertigo's influence

21:10 Eros and Thanatos: Love and death (and time loops)

23:55 A very different science fiction film: Un photo-roman, sound and reliable narrators

32:00 The darker future: gritty retrofuturism and echoes of WWII

36:59 What is real? (And why is it so beautiful?)

40:52 Distressing distortions and more death

46:03 The one moving image

48:33 12 Monkeys

51:47 Legacy of the film

55:30 Recommendations for the listener

NEXT EPISODE!

Next episode is episode 42 and it seems patrons on Patreon would like a detour to cover the meaning of life the universe and everything. So we shall be talking about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You do not need to watch the film but if you felt like reading the book , listening to the original radio play, watching the TV series or indeed watching the film either as a new experience or to refresh your memory you absolutely can!

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(66)

Sci-fi & Architecture: Visions of the Future

There are spoilers ahead! For many films I'm afraid. I would especially avoid the episode until you have watched Ex-Machina (which you really really should immediately it really is phenomenal) as Jes ...

19 Jul 55min

Quatermass: Nigel Kneale, Hammer and Mid-Century Britain

There is a longer version of the podcast available which includes more tangential topics on Patreon for paid subscribers or for a $3 or £3 fee! The long version is just under one hour and twenty-five ...

5 Jul 59min

The Face of Another 1966: Scars & Identity in Post War Japan

Trigger warning: This discussion includes talk about sexual assault and sexual violence. This is a theme apparent in the film and the source material. It is mentioned a few times. The topic is not spo...

21 Jun 59min

Blade Runner: Paul Franklin's Favourite Sci-Fi Film

As always there are spoilers ahead! Blade Runner was not a huge hit in 1982 but it did gain a fair few fans on its initial release. One of those fans was a teenager from Cheshire by the name of Paul F...

7 Jun 46min

Fantastic Voyage: Psychedelic Nanotech in 1966

As always there are spoilers ahead! You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you would like to be a patron of the podcast and help an indie podcaster out, you c...

24 Mai 57min

Fahrenheit 451: Truffaut's 1966 Suburban Dystopia

Show notes As always there are spoilers ahead! You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you would like to be a patron of the podcast and feel like nobility fun...

10 Mai 56min

Seconds 1966: Rock Hudson's Devastating Disillusionment

As always there are spoilers ahead! You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you would like to be a patron of the podcast and get that amazing feeling of wellbe...

26 Apr 58min

The 10th Victim: Italy's 1965 Pop Art Dystopia

As always there are spoilers ahead! You can follow the podcast on social media on Threads, Instagram and Bluesky. If you would like to be a patron of the podcast you can join Patreon and for £3 or $3 ...

12 Apr 54min