L’année dernière à Marienbad / Last Year at Marienbad
One of the most influential works in cinema history portrays intertwined lives, a hall of mirrors that never reveal a true self.
Directed by Alain Resnais (1961)
French; English subtitles. 95 min.
A hypnotically beautiful puzzle box of a film, and one of the most influential in cinema history. In a sumptuous but austere international hotel in the European resort town of Marienbad, the rich, anonymous, idle clientele circulates. A man is convinced he met an enigmatic woman the previous year at the same location, and perhaps had a flirtation. A second man, possibly the woman's lover or husband, repeatedly intimidates the first. Their relations unfold through flashback shards that never quite fit into place, their lives a hall of mirrors that never reveal a true self.