Dir. Alain Resnais, French, English subtitles, 1961
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Thu 8 November 2007 // 19:30
/ Cinema
This is one of the films that has marked the history of cinema and that has fascinated and baffled audiences and critics alike.
When
it was released in 1961, it gained huge critical acclaim, being
described as a revolution in the history of cinema, and getting
excellent reviews from the English magazine Sight and Sound and from the French cult magazine Les Cahiers du Cinema. It also won the Golden Lion (the highest prize) at the 1961 Venice Film Festival.
On 8 March 1962, Bosley Crowther wrote the following in the New York Times:
"BE prepared for an experience such as you've never had from watching a film when you sit down to look at Alain Resnais' "Last Year at Marienbad," a truly extraordinary French film, which opened at the Carnegie Hall Cinema last night.
It may grip you with a strange enchantment, it may twist your wits into a snarl, it may leave your mind and senses toddling vaguely in the regions in between. But this we can reasonably promise: when you stagger away from it, you will feel you have delighted in (or suffered) a unique and intense experience."
Far from a classic dramatic narrative, Last Year At Marienbad has
been likened to a symphony, a dream or a poem. In 1961, A. Resnais
said: "We [A. Resnais and A. Robbe-Grillet, who wrote the screenplay]
meant to directly touch the sensitivity of the audience , showing a
representation of the emotional world. (...) It is possible that the
audience is a bit disorientated at the beginning of the film, not
finding clear narrative lines, but we are convinced that very quickly,
they understand what it is about and adapt the way they perceive the
film."
Some have described it as a master-piece, others finding it incomprehensible. What do you think about it? Come along and join the debate.