Comparing La Jetee, the short, and 12 Monkeys, the full-length movie

 In the full-length film "12 Monkeys", James Cole is a state prisoner in 2035. He is eligible for release if he agrees to go back in time and stop a terrible plague. The majority of people on Earth have been wiped off by the virus, and those who remain dwell underground because the air is deadly. Returning to 1990, six years before the virus breaks out, Cole is quickly locked up in a mental hospital because his warnings seem like deranged rants. He meets Jeffrey Goines, the crazy son of a renowned virologist, and Dr. Kathryn Railly, a scientist. The authorities send Cole back to 2035, and he eventually arrives in 1996, where he was supposed to be. In order to get Dr. Railly's assistance in his mission, he kidnaps her. As Cole investigates the mystery, he hears voices, gets disoriented, and questions his own sanity. Cole finds graffiti that appears to be the work of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, an alleged animal rights organization. He has to determine whether Goines, who seems to be a raving madman, actually has the solution to the riddle.

In the Short "La Jetee", a collection of monochrome still images are set to incredibly evocative and rhythmic music. Both serve as the narrative's framework and greatly enhance the entire viewing experience. The movie also contains almost no language, with the exception of brief bursts of incomprehensible murmurs as people chat with one another in an airport terminal. Instead, the story is told by a voice-over narrator. In the end, it has the same effect as becoming lost in a good book. one that features numerous eerie illustrations. The photomontages narrate the story and captivate the spectator on their own; there is little to no action and no celebrity performances. As we follow the lives of one individual, the story takes place in a dystopian Paris still reeling from the consequences of World War III. He has essentially been made a slave in order to go through his own life's history. In the hopes that he can prevent the end of the world, we get to glimpse his past, present, and future. His scientist captors are having trouble finding anyone who can handle the emotional shock of time travel, but when they find our protagonist, everything changes. An obsessive, hazy memory of a woman from his pre-war boyhood plagues him. This seemed to be the solution to everything, somehow.