[Program title] LE TEMPS DEVANT SOI III – La mémoire et le temps
[Film title] L’année dernière à Marienbad
[Date] 2012.7.1 – 7.29
[Screen time] 1hr 30min.
[Place] Maison Hermès 10F 5-4-1, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
1961 / Italy, France / 90 min / Black and white / 35mm
Director: Alain Resnais
Written by: Alain Robbe-Grillet
Cinematography: Sacha Vierny
Music: Francis Seyrig
Staring: Delphine Seyrig, Giorgio Albertazzi, Sacha Pitoëff
Translation: Kotaro Yamasaki
Special thanks to: Kawakita Memorial Film Institute
In a baroque-style chateau, a man meets a woman he met, or believes he met, a year ago. The two walk together down an endless corridor, passing people that are reminiscent of mechanical dolls, repeating the same lines, reenacting the same scenes. Is this a dream ? A memory ? Or a cinematic game ?
L’année dernière à Marienbad, written by Alain Robbe-Grillet, applies nouveau roman techniques to the movie screen—transforming the form and structure of the motion picture, rejecting traditional narrative storytelling, and eliminating psychological descriptions of the characters.
Did the two characters meet a year ago ? If so, was it at Mariendbad ? Was the woman already married ? In the end, we never know. The film, which has become a legend, provoked a storm of controversy at its debut. Viewers either loved or hated it—no one was left indifferent.
Winner of the Golden Lion at the 1961 Venice Film Festival.