La Jetée
Chris Marker · 1962 · Film
This short film powerfully depicts the predestination paradox, where a time traveler's actions in the past are not changes but the very events they were destined to experience, emphasizing fatalism.
What it is
A post-apocalyptic survivor is sent back in time from a devastated future to find a way to save humanity. Through experiments, he develops a strong memory of a woman from his childhood, and of witnessing a man's death at an airport. He eventually travels to the past, only to realize he is the man he saw die as a child, caught in a predestination paradox.
↑Inherited from(2)
↓Passed on to(2)
Serves as the direct and acknowledged inspiration for the film, sharing its core narrative and themes of predestination and a man sent from the future to avert disaster.
Features a protagonist who is seemingly destined to play a role in a temporal anomaly, leading to a fatalistic outcome.