Le Joli Mai

Dir. Chris Marker and Pierre Lhomme. 1963. 145 mins. Digital projectoin. In French with English subtitles. In May 1962, a ceasefire during the Algerian war of independence represented the first time in 23 years that France wasn’t involved in an international conflict. Inspired by Jean Rouch’s Chronicle of a Summer, which followed a similar “man on the street” tactic, Marker and his cameraman Pierre Lhomme canvassed the streets of Paris during this time to interview laborers, small businessmen, soldiers, priests, immigrants and students about what keeps them busy, what makes them happy and how they see their place in society. “An epic of inquiring photography.”—J. Hoberman, The New York Review of Books.

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