“HOW DOES ONE REMEMBER THIRST?”: PHALLIC AND MATRIXIAL MEMORY IN CHRIS MARKER’S LA JETÉE AND SANS SOLEIL by Jeremy Barr A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida May 2011 "HOW DOES ONE REMEMBER THIRST?": PHALLIC AND MATRlXIAL MEMORY IN CHRIS MARKER'S LA JETEE AND SANS SOLEIL by Jeremy Barr This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor, Dr. Chris Robe, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, and has been approved by the members of his supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree ofMaster of Arts. SUP~RY ~MITTEE: Chris abe,?:ti Thesis Advis r harbonneau, Ph.D. r 7P1 Da.et i/i / " ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to express his kindest regards and most sincere thanks to his committee for their guidance, Kaoru Sakabe for her translations, Gary and Radha Bello for reminding him to breathe, and the financial support of the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, who allowed him the privilege of sharing with others. Most of all, he would like to thank Carlee Cohen for her love, her patience, and helping him to remember. iii ABSTRACT Author: Jeremy Barr Title: “How Does One Remember Thirst?”: Phallic and Matrixial Memory in Chris Marker’s La jetée and Sans soleil Institution: Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Chris Robé Degree: Master of Arts Year: 2011 This thesis problematizes the notion of memory as a non-gendered mechanism by examining the construction of memory and subjectivity in Chris Marker’s La jetée and Sans soleil. Using the theoretical frameworks of Jacques Lacan, Bracha Ettinger, and André Bazin, the paper argues that La jetée presents a model of phallic memory corresponding to a Lacan’s understanding of desire and subjectivity, while Sans soleil offers a model of matrixial memory based on Ettinger’s theorization of the gaze. Bazin’s work is used to address aesthetic issues, as well as providing a method for exploring how the phallic and matrixial frameworks impact the formal construction of the films. Ultimately, La jetée’s model of phallic memory is shown to sever past from present in a manner corresponding to Lacanian notions of desire, castration, and loss, whereas Sans soleil demonstrates the potential of matrixial memory to establish a liminal relationship between past and present. iv DEDICATION This manuscript is dedicated to the events unremembered but not forgotten, the spaces between words, and those things that cannot be named. “HOW DOES ONE REMEMBER THIRST?”: PHALLIC AND MATRIXIAL MEMORY IN CHRIS MARKER’S LA JETÉE AND SANS SOLEIL List of Figures................................................................................................................... vii Chapter One: Chris Marker, Jacques Lacan, and Bracha Ettinger ......................................1 Introduction......................................................................................................................1 Theoretical Background...................................................................................................4 Review of Literature ......................................................................................................17 Summary of Lacan and Ettinger ....................................................................................30 Chapter Two: La jetée and Phallic Memory......................................................................34 Bazin, Rosen, Indexicality and Time.............................................................................34 La jetée...........................................................................................................................41 Regarding History, the Subject, and Phallic Memory ...................................................62 Chapter Three: Sans soleil and Matrixial Memory............................................................68 After La jetée .................................................................................................................69 Krasna and the Narrator.................................................................................................73 Sans soleil ......................................................................................................................81 Conclusions..................................................................................................................107 Notes ................................................................................................................................111 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................122 vi FIGURES Figure 1. Opening Image of the Pier at Orly ..................................................................43 Figure 2. Bench Shot 1....................................................................................................49 Figure 3. Bench Shot 2....................................................................................................49 Figure 4. Bench Shot 3....................................................................................................49 Figure 5. Bench Shot 4....................................................................................................50 Figure 6. Bench Shot 5....................................................................................................50 Figure 7. Bench Shot 6....................................................................................................50 Figure 8. Bench Shot 7....................................................................................................50 Figure 9. Bench Shot 8....................................................................................................50 Figure 10. Bench Shot 9....................................................................................................50 Figure 11. Bed Shots 1-12 .......................................................................................... 52-53 Figure 12. Woman with Open Eyes..................................................................................55 Figure 13. Jailor ................................................................................................................55 Figure 14. Establishing Shot.............................................................................................57 Figure 15. Close-Up..........................................................................................................57 Figure 16. Eyeline Match..................................................................................................57 vii Figure 17. Sequential Shots of Man Running...................................................................57 Figure 18. The Approach ..................................................................................................60 Figure 19. The Killer.........................................................................................................60 Figure 20. The Death ........................................................................................................60 Figure 21. The Triangle ....................................................................................................61 Figure 22. Final Image of the Pier at Orly........................................................................61 Figure 23. Amilcar Cabral/Luis Cabral ............................................................................82 Figure 24. Luis Cabral (guerilla)/Luis Cabral (president) .................................................82 Figure 25. Woman Singing in the Zone.............................................................................86 Figure 26. Red Cat .............................................................................................................87 Figure 27. Board (long)......................................................................................................87 Figure 28. Board (close) ....................................................................................................87 Figure 29. The Florist ........................................................................................................92 Figure 30. Hills of San Francisco ......................................................................................92 Figure 31. The Spiral .........................................................................................................92 Figure 32. James Stewart ...................................................................................................94 Figure 33. Cathedral...........................................................................................................94 Figure 34. Empty Lot ........................................................................................................94 Figure 35. Krasna (long)....................................................................................................95 viii Figure 36. Hitchcock (long)...............................................................................................95 Figure 37. Marker (long)....................................................................................................95 Figure 38. Hitchcock