The strangest science-fiction short ever created. The style is a wild mixture of collage, pixillation, animated stills, hand coloring, and flashing tints. An inventor constructs a spaceship out of odd bits of wood and folded newspaper. He fills it with his most treasured bric-a-brac-a pet owl, a handwound clock and a Kodak camera-and goes exploring a fairytale universe reminiscent of Jules Verne and George Méliès. For those familiar with Borowczyk's macabre Concert de Mme. Kabal and his horrific parable on Auschwitz, Les Jeux Des Anges, the lighthearted tone of Les Astronautes will come as a surprise. The film seems a genuine collaboration-Chris Marker's surreal whimsicality permeates the whole. Russell Merritt