Last Year at Marienbad (1961)

December 19, 2024 10:14 AM

[TRAILER] A group of unnamed aristocrats interact at a strange palatial château, resulting in an enigmatic tale told partially in flashback. X (Giorgio Albertazzi) is convinced that he has met the beautiful A (Delphine Seyrig) before in the Czech resort town of Marienbad, and implies they had a romantic relationship. M (Sacha Pitoeff), who may be A's husband or boyfriend, confronts her mysterious suitor, leading to conflict and questions about the truth behind his story.

Directed by Alain Resnais. Written by Alain Robbe-Grillet. Produced by Pierre Courau, Raymond Froment. Cinematography Sacha Vierny. Edited by Henri Colpi, Jasmine Chasney. Music by Francis Seyrig.

93% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming in the US on Hoopla, Kanopy. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (6 comments total)

This was more abstract/detached than I expected. It's really more like something you let wash over you than a conventional narrative film.

The new 4K from Kino Lorber is lovely.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:15 AM on December 19, 2024 [2 favorites]

yes, this is beautiful but not really a narrative experience. I felt similarly about Russian Ark (v beautiful!) just float along with the gorgeous dreamy scenery and don't worry too much about what the AF is happening.
posted by supermedusa at 10:57 AM on December 19, 2024 [1 favorite]

Most beautiful film of the French New Wave? I think so which is why I think it is critical to see this film in the new remaster. I recall seeing it in school in the mid 90s - soft and faded print with burned in subtitles. A very poor viewing experience but even then, at least for me, it has a quality that is really beguiling and which has got me to watch it every couple years (whenever a new print was out). I really like this film but it is not something I'd ever recommend blindly. The film is so abstracted with only the barest narrative - I think most people watching it likely would find it pretentious and pointless. Apparently, Resnais claims that the film is an attempt to convey the complexity of thought and its processes. Which is as good an explanation as any.
posted by Ashwagandha at 12:20 PM on December 19, 2024 [2 favorites]

Robbe-Grillet deserves as much credit for this one as Resnais, if not more - its resemblance to his novels and subsequent films as director are quite unmistakable.
posted by remembrancer at 1:14 PM on December 19, 2024 [1 favorite]

My partner showed me this movie early in our relationship. In retrospect think it might have been a test. I really dug it so I guess that worked out.

I vividly remember the wide shots of the manicured garden where only the people cast shadows. A really haunting quality that lingered but never actually felt unsafe or even negative. I felt a strong temptation to define it as about something concrete, some key that would explain it. I toyed with the idea that they were all dead souls in purgatory or something, but even as I experimented with that thought, it felt out of step with the vibe to put anything so prescriptive on it. The vibe itself is so extremely strong it seemed to be a point in itself.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 1:49 PM on December 19, 2024 [1 favorite]

I watched this for the first time a few months ago and it's one of my new favorites; it revolves around memory and time, and it takes a little while to recognize that things change within a scene -- the location is suddenly different, clothing is different, in a seemingly seamless cut. There's more to flawed memory than recalling what happened the year before.
posted by AzraelBrown at 2:39 PM on December 27, 2024 [1 favorite]