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You are here: Home Leisure Cinema review Cinema review: This year, last year, some time, never?

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07/07/2011Cinema review: This year, last year, some time, never?

Cinema review: This year, last year, some time, never? The vague, frequently irritating and pretentious but nevertheless awe-inspiring L’année dernière à Marienbad (Last Year at Marienbad) (1961) by Alain Resnais is 50 this year, hence its commemorative re-release this week. Picturenose’s James Drew ponders the puzzle…

So, should you go? Well, if you want to even pretend that you know what you're talking about when it comes to the language of cinema, I'm afraid so...

Resnais, whose earlier work such as Hiroshima mon amour (1959) and, later, Muriel (1963), used a similar unconventional narrative technique, was one of the pioneers of French New Wave cinema, which sought to challenge traditional concepts of narrative construction in cinema.

The screenplay for ...Marienbad was written by acclaimed French novelist Alain Robbe-Grillet, who had not worked in cinema previously - Resnais wanted his work to be untouched by preconceived notions of pacing or structure, and this is exactly what Robbe-Grillet achieved.

Last Year at Marienbad
 
A summary is by and large pointless, as this is a film that simply demands repeated viewing if ‘understanding' is what you're after - in a nutshell, it's simply about a beautiful, brown-haired woman ‘A' (Delphine Seyrig) and a man with an Italian accent ‘X' (Giorgio Albertazzi) who may, or may not, have met a year previously at Marienbad, the beautiful, ornate, cathedral-like château in which they find themselves wandering from the film's outset.

There's a long, long trail a-winding for both characters (and the audience) to reach any kind of destination - the journey includes devilish parlour games and a loaded gun, and takes in elements from many genres, including romance, the supernatural, even horror.

It's safe to say that if you do not enjoy the stereotypical perception of French cinema, you might prefer a Coke, popcorn and blockbuster, for there is no doubting that Resnais pushes his luck more than a little in terms of audience attention-span expectations. However, if you allow yourself to fall under its spell, this is a film that will remain with you forever, and one to which you will return. So, what's it going to be then, eh?

94 min. In French.

James Drew

Please check local listings before travelling. For more reviews, check out  www.picturenose.com. Expatica's weekly cinema-review section is brought to you incollaboration with Picturenose.com. About our reviewers: Putting you in the picture. 


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