Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Chris Marker's Junkopia (1981)

Here's a nice little Marker short that I didn't know existed until now. It's a film about the Albany Bulb, a former landfill on a peninsula that juts out into the SF Bay from Berkeley. From the 60s onwards, the Bulb has been used as a refuge for large urban art/art brut installations, including some impressive architectural creations. I remember being led here when I was last in San Francisco, while on tour with Dreamhouse in 2004. There is a very strong homeless community that lives there now, but it also seems to be a popular place for dogwalking. Marker's film captures the otherworldly atmosphere of the place, which contrasts here richly with the traces of 1980's America that sneak in. As usual, the soundtrack credited to Michel Krasna (aka Marker himself) is great as well.

No comments:

Post a Comment